MILWAUKEE—It snuck into a group conversation with Kawhi Leonard one night earlier this week, a quick phrase dropped that gave a glimpse of just what NBA playoff basketball means to him.“Keep fighting,” the Raptors all-star said, “we have a chance to make history.”And for a player who famously — and in many ways correctly — said the regular season is little more than 82 warmup games, it spoke volumes about what this time of the season means to him.It’s time for history to be made, time when reputations are made, time when everyone’s watching and time when everyone’s on heightened alert to watch and appreciate the very best players in the league.He’s got his chance now.After another wonderful performance, Leonard and the Raptors are within a game of playing for the NBA championship after beating the Milwaukee Bucks 105-99 here Thursday night in a dramatic Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final.Combined with a stunning night of shooting by Fred VanVleet — he made seven of nine three-pointers — Leonard’s play gives Toronto a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.They can close it out Saturday at Scotiabank Arena. Game 7, if necessary, will be here Monday.Leonard had 15 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter as Toronto rallied from a sluggish start to pull away for the victory.A Pascal Siakam dunk with about 16 seconds left sealed the game, and Kyle Lowry put it away with two free throws with 11.8 seconds remaining.Leonard is a bit beaten up, as is every player on the teams still alive, but he’s not going to use nagging tweaks in both his legs as any kind of excuse.He was moving more fluidly here Thursday than he was at home on Tuesday, and didn’t even take a chance to get some extra rest.“Listen, he’s — I don’t know — he’s just super-competitive, man,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “He couldn’t wait for the playoffs to ...
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