In the books
Raptors vanquish Game 6 demons, close out firstround series against Bucks
MILWAUKEE, Minn. The Toronto Raptors have made a habit out of doing things the difficult way.
So when coach Dwane Casey met with the media after the Raptors’ rollercoaster Game 6 victory over Milwaukee that sent them into the Eastern Conference semifinals and a showdown with the Cleveland Cavaliers, all he could do was shake his head.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, we made it hard on ourselves down the stretch,” Casey said. “But I thought we showed a lot of resiliency down the stretch.
“To close out on the road is one of the hardest things to do in the NBA. I don’t care who you are, what team you are, it’s very difficult to do.”
DeMar DeRozan scored 32 points as the Raptors held on to beat the Bucks 92-89, but not before watching their 25point lead obliterated amid a fierce, crowd-fuelled Milwaukee comeback. The Raptors clinched the best-of-seven series 4-2 to advance to the conference semis which begin Monday in Cleveland.
Kyle Lowry added 13 points, while Serge Ibaka had 11 boards but just seven points before fouling out for Toronto.
The Raptors, who had never won a playoff series in less than the maximum number of games, dominated for much of the night and led by as many as 25 points midway through the third quarter. But the Bucks responded with a 15-3 run to cut Toronto’s lead to 74-61 heading into a nail-biting final frame.
The Bucks rode their momentum, while the Raptors coughed up one ball after another, and when Jason Terry drilled a three-pointer with 3:06 to play, it gave the Bucks their first lead since the first quarter. The roar in the BMO Harris Bradley Center was deafening.
In the post-game locker-room, the Raptors talked about the ensuing huddle. DeRozan, Lowry and Cory Joseph preached calm to their teammates.
“Them talking, calming us down in the huddle being those leaders and just reassuring us we were fine,” Patrick Patterson said. “There was enough time left on the clock. They made their run but we can easily make ours and that is exactly what happened.”
Added Joseph: “It’s human nature to get a little tense when things aren’t going your way. And the whole building is against you on the road. It’s human nature. You have to fight against that to calm yourself down and still play the game.
“You just always have to play until that clock is zero, zero, zero, zero. You could never get too high or you can never get too low.”
In a fourth quarter that saw Toronto score just five field goals, Patterson and Joseph responded with two of them — Patterson scored on a cutting dunk, then Joseph drilled a three, and Toronto was back up by three. DeRozan’s driving dunk with 49 seconds to play gave Toronto a five-point cushion.
Terry gave the Bucks one last gasp, connecting on a three to make it just a two-point game with 16 seconds left. But DeRozan scored two free throws, then Patterson intercepted Tony Snell’s inbounds pass to clinch the win, DeRozan spiking the ball victoriously.