3. Toronto Raptors 119-117 Portland Trail Blazers – March 1
The Raptors came into the month of March hot on the tails of an 8-1 record in February. The team had just traded for Marc Gasol and was starting to get rolling when a fiery Portland Trail Blazers team – one of the best in the NBA – came to town on a cold Friday night.
This was once again a night where Kawhi Leonard schooled everyone in his path, scoring 38 points on 14-of-22 shooting. The Raptors had the game in their hands for most of the night, but the Trail Blazers, led by a shooting clinic from CJ McCollum, forced their way back into the game and nearly stole it.
The Raptors were up by as much as 14 points before the Trail Blazers made their run in the fourth quarter, but Leonard was at hand with 20 points in the second half to hold the visitors off.
It wasn’t a solo effort from Leonard, though. Kyle Lowry added another double-double to his tally for the season with 19 points and dishing out 10 assists in the process. It was two of the best teams in the NBA battling it out in a high-octane, down to the wire game.
It really did come down to the wire, too. With the game tied at 117-117, Kawhi Leonard took the ball from a timeout, dribbled to the baseline and hit the game-winning jumper to force the win. It was a moment that looked eerily similar to Leonard’s Game 7 buzzer-beater against the Philadelphia 76ers two months later.