Powell keys win over skidding Milwaukee

Norman Powell scored 29 points, Pascal Siakam had 27 and the Toronto Raptors beat Milwaukee 110-96 on Thursday night to hand the Bucks their fifth consecutive loss.

Powell matched a season high in scoring while shooting 9 of 12 overall, including 4 of 7 from 3point range. Fred VanVleet added 17 points for the Raptors, who pulled ahead for good late in the first quarter.

The Bucks last dropped five straight games from Jan. 25 to Feb. 3 in 2017. This entire skid has come without guard Jrue Holiday, who has missed six consecutive games due to health and safety protocols.

The Raptors weren’t at full strength for this one either and still defeated the Bucks for the second time in three nights.

The Raptors beat the Bucks 124113 on Tuesday despite losing Kyle Lowry to a sore left ankle early in the third quarter. Lowry didn’t play at all Thursday, though the Raptors said it was due to a sprained left thumb rather than his sore ankle.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 23 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists before fouling out with 1:19 remaining. Shortly before the game, Antetokounmpo was named an All-Star starter for the fifth consecutive season.

Milwaukee’s Donte DiVincenzo had 14 points, Khris Middleton 13, Brook Lopez 12 and Bryn Forbes 11.

After the game went back and forth for the first 10 minutes, the Raptors went on a 21-4 run to pull ahead for good.

Powell sank a pair of 3-pointers to begin the spurt as Toronto scored the final eight points of the first quarter. Powell had 15 points in the first quarter alone.

Toronto then scored 13 of the first 17 points in the second quarter. DeAndre’ Bembry capped the outburst with a 3-pointer that put Toronto ahead 46-30.

The Raptors held Milwaukee to 15 second-quarter points.

Milwaukee trailed by 23 during the third quarter. The Bucks got the margin down to 10 on a number of occasions but couldn’t get any closer.