Lowry reaches 10,000-point plateau as a Raptor in loss to Milwaukee
Kyle Lowry scored a milestone basket early and made things interesting for the Raptors late with a 14-point fourth quarter.
But the Milwaukee Bucks answered every Raptor run in a 115-108 victory Wednesday.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was one assist from a triple-double with 24 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists for Milwaukee (11-6). Khris Middleton had 24 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists while Brook Lopez added 20 points and seven rebounds.
Four straight baskets, including three three-pointers, by Lowry helped Toronto (7-11) cut the lead to 106-102 with under two minutes remaining. Milwaukee held firm, however.
Earlier Lowry became the third player to reach the 10,000-point milestone as a Raptor, scoring on Toronto's second shot attempt at Amalie Arena.
The 34-year-old guard sank a threepointer from 24 feet just 51 seconds into the game after a steal by Fred VanVleet. DeMar DeRozan (13,296) and Chris Bosh (10,275) are the only others to score 10,000 in Raptors colours.
Norm Powell had a season-high 26 points for Toronto, his fourth consecutive 20-plus outing. Six Raptors finished in double figures with Lowry finishing at 21. VanVleet had 10 points and 10 assists.
“I think there was a lot of good to take from the game, there’s a lot of positives to take from the game,” said Toronto coach Nick Nurse.
But he rued some missed offensive play executions.
“If you’re going to beat a high-level team, those things have got to get cleaned up,” he said.
Toronto made 22-of-55 three-point attempts with Aron Baynes 1-of-7, Pascal Siakam 1-of-4 and VanVleet 2-of11. Lowry was good on 6-of-8 attempts, making all four from distance in the fourth.
Milwaukee outscored Toronto 40-26 in the paint.
Siakam (11 points) returned to the Raptors lineup after a two-game absence due to left knee swelling. But OG Anunoby (calf ) was unable to go due to a calf issue.
Lowry actually came into the game with 13,730 points, having scored 1,217 in two-plus seasons with Memphis and 2,515 in three-plus campaigns with Houston.
Golden State’s Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, Portland’s Damian Lillard, Washington’s Bradley Beal and Milwaukee’s Antetokounmpo are the only active players with 10,000 points with their current team.