Norman Powell isn't known as the flashiest player, but on Friday he showed that he could step into the spotlight when needed.
With the Toronto Raptors struggling for offence against the Orlando Magic, Powell came out of the halftime break and imposed his will on the game in an outburst rarely seen from the 26-year-old guard. Orlando outscored the visiting Raptors through each of the first two quarters and built up a well-deserved 47-40 lead after 24 minutes of play. They looked the part of a team ready to pull off an upset against the defending NBA champions.
Then Powell took over.
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The San Diego, Calif. native came out of the break and looked nearly unstoppable, hitting shots from seemingly everywhere as he exploded for 19 points in the third quarter. During that same timeframe, the Magic collectively only scored 12.
Understand this 😤 pic.twitter.com/cy8hzLmZgS
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) November 30, 2019
Update:@npowell2404: 19
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) November 30, 2019
Other team: 12 https://t.co/BXL6wndnXH pic.twitter.com/BUOdCKY7Lh
Powell's outburst led the Raptors to a 66-59 advantage at the start of the fourth quarter, completely undoing Orlando's impressive first half. Toronto rode the momentum to a 90-83 victory — the Raptors' sixth-straight win.
As for Powell, he finished with a career-high 33 points on 12-of-18 shooting. The fifth-year Raptor hit five three-pointers and made all four of his free throws in Friday's win.