Raptors 106 – Bucks 100: Everybody…exhale!
By Brian Boake
The Raptors were in desperate need of a win, and got it when they made their shots late. The Bucks were relentless, and this series could be a long one.
The Toronto Raptors needed all 48 minutes to subdue the Milwaukee Bucks, but subdue they did. A Kyle Lowry basket under extreme pressure with 9 seconds to play doubled the margin to four, and the Bucks had no luck with their off-balance long balls.
Milwaukee’s young team is proving harder to kill than Rasputin. Led once again by the Greek Freak, Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks were down virtually all game. Yet they wouldn’t roll over.
This was a game of runs, with the Raptors several times rolling to double-digit leads only to have the offense stall out while Milwaukee stormed back. The most distressing example was in Q4, when the Raptors endured 5 minutes without a bucket. A 12-point lead was all gone when Giannis drained his only 3-ball of the night to create a tie at the century mark with 2 minutes to play. Much to the relief of Raptors fans, the only points after that were Toronto’s.
The Raptors received a terrific game from Lowry, who must feel a hundred pounds lighter after his woeful Game 1. Even so, while his shots were creating string music from all over the court, his decision-making was open to question a number of times. Milwaukee is long both vertically and horizontally. Lowry’s turnovers after he’d left his feet, only to find his passing lanes blocked, were damaging to our team’s cause.
Cory Joseph also struggled to find passing or driving space, but he made a major contribution to the Raptors’ excellent 14-of-29 night from beyond the arc. CoJo missed just one of his four attempts.
Lots of contributors
Serge Ibaka had a dismal first half, then found his stroke after the break. He clearly has a shooter’s mentality, and it paid off in this game. He refused to stop shooting, and drained 3 of 4 long balls. I-block-a added two dramatic denials, one of them on the Freak.
DeMar DeRozan enjoyed some high degree of difficulty makes, though he missed a few easy ones too. He ended with 23 points and a healthy 7 defensive boards.
Jonas Valanciunas had a double-double after 3 quarters, then sat the fourth. DeMarre Carroll was parked beside him, another curious decision as Carroll had emerged from his shooting funk to score all 9 of his points. Perhaps his inability to make free throws (he’s 2 of 6 in two games) influenced coach Dwane Casey to park him.
P.J. Tucker had a chance to ice the match from the line with 56 seconds left, but clanked both. In both games, the younger, less experienced Bucks have shot a better percentage from the line than the supposedly battle-hardened Raptors. Milwaukee also has fewer turnovers.
The series shifts to Wisconsin for games on Thursday and Saturday, before returning to Toronto on Monday night.
Putbacks: Both teams had 40 rebounds and 6 steals, and 6 players with at least one 3-ball…Delon Wright and Jakob Poeltl got some burn, while Norman Powell sat