TORONTO — Kawhi Leonard hit a shot from the corner over Joel Embiid at the buzzer that bounced off the rim four times before falling to give the Toronto Raptors a 92-90 victory against the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series Sunday night.

After Jimmy Butler of Philadelphia tied it with a driving layup with 4.2 seconds left, Toronto used its final timeout to draw up a play for Leonard, who dribbled toward the right corner and launched the high-arching shot.

It bounced to the top of the backboard, hit the near side of the rim again, then the other side twice before going through, setting off a wild celebration as the Raptors advanced to the conference finals for the second time in four seasons. They will open the conference finals Wednesday night at Milwaukee.

Leonard scored 41 points on 16-of-39 shooting. Serge Ibaka added 17 points, and Pascal Siakam had 11 points and 11 rebounds. Embiid led the 76ers with 21 points and 11 rebounds. JJ Redick had 17 points, Butler added 16, and Tobias Harris had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

In its only other conference finals, Toronto lost to LeBron James and Cleveland in six games in 2016.

Redick made it 85-85 with a three-point play with 3:29 left. Nearly two minutes passed before the next basket, Leonard’s long jumper with 1:41 to go that was initially ruled a 3 but changed to a 2 after video review.

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On Philadelphia’s next possession, Kyle Lowry forced a steal near midcourt and fed Siakam for a fast-break layup, giving Toronto an 89-85 lead with 1:14 left.

Butler made 1 of 2 at the line and Leonard missed a pair of jump shots, giving the 76ers the ball down 89-86 with 24.1 seconds remaining. Embiid was fouled and made both, cutting it to 89-88 with 12 seconds left.

Leonard was fouled with 10.8 seconds left. He made the first but missed the second, setting up Butler’s tying layup.

The 76ers missed nine straight shots to start the game and didn’t score until a 3-pointer by Redick midway through the quarter. Still, while the Sixers made just two of their first 14 attempts, the Raptors only made 3 of their first 13. Toronto shot 5 of 24 in the first quarter and the 76ers went 5 of 19.

Philadelphia had as many turnovers (five) as baskets in the quarter that ended with Toronto up 18-13.

Lowry headed to the locker room briefly in the second because of a sprained left thumb. He checked back in midway through the period. Siakam and Leonard each scored seven points in the second and Lowry added six to give Toronto a 44-40 lead at halftime.

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Toronto led 50-41, its biggest lead of the game, after a basket by Gasol early in the third. Philadelphia answered with a 16-0 run over the next 4 1/2 minutes as the Raptors missed 10 straight shots. Toronto rallied behind 11 points from Leonard and took a 67-64 advantage to the final quarter.

TRAIL BLAZERS 100, NUGGETS 96: CJ McCollum scored 37 points and Portland overcame a 17-point first-half deficit at Denver to advance to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2000.

The Trail Blazers will open Tuesday night at Golden State against the two-time defending NBA champion Warriors in a series pitting Seth Curry of Portland against his big brother, Steph Curry of the Warriors.

Lillard scored 13 points and made just 3 of 17 shots from the field, but two of them were critical 3-pointers in the fourth quarter that put Portland ahead 81-76 and 92-85.

“It’s a luxury to have two guys like that who can find different ways to score in different ways,” Trail Blazers Coach Terry Stotts said.

“CJ does it one way, (Lillard) does it in another. On a night when (Lillard) struggled shooting the ball, CJ came up big.”


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