Battle of East’s best proves one-sided as Raptors fall flat
If the game was a proverbial measuring the stick, the Toronto Raptors were proverbially clubbed over the head with it at the Scotiabank Arena on Thursday night.
A few minutes of inspired play in the fourth quarter — cutting a 24-point deficit to six points on two occasions — was little more than fool’s gold as the Raptors were thoroughly manhandled by the Milwaukee Bucks, losing 105-92 to the team they’ll now chase for Eastern Conference supremacy the rest of the season.
The win gives Milwaukee, now 37-13, the season series ad- vantage over the Raptors, the first tiebreaker should the teams end the season with identical records.
It also means Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer and his staff will work at next month’s allstar game, not Toronto’s Nick Nurse and his assistants.
The Raptors, who saw a 10game home winning streak end with the loss, simply fiddled around too much, too early, before trying to mount some miracle comeback.
They were routinely late getting to Milwaukee shooters on the perimeter — the Bucks made 11 first-half three-pointers — while Toronto could get nothing going on offence.
“Just coming out with some energy in the beginning; you know, we were down 20 points in the third quarter,” said Kawhi Leonard. “Trying to build yourself back from that lead so late in the game, you lose a lot of energy for the fourth ... we’ve got to be consistent.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 19 points and eight rebounds for the Bucks but the bench duo of DJ Wilson and George Hill combined for a game-changing 26 points.
Pascal Siakam keyed the late rally and finished with 28 points to lead Toronto and Leonard had a streak of 21 games with 20 or more points halted as he scored just 10. Kyle Lowry also had 10 for Toronto.
Finally got one: Lowry made a three-pointer early in the third quarter — just Toronto’s third in 19 tries to that point in the game — it was the first one he’d made this season against the Bucks.
Lowry missed the first 18 three-pointers he tried in his first three outings against Milwaukee. Limited time: A stomach virus felled Toronto’s Danny Green for most of the game. Green started and played five minutes in the first half before heading back to the locker room. He started the third quarter and played another five minutes before he was done for the night. He finished with no points and four rebounds.
Pride night: It was the team’s second annual Pride Night held in conjunction with the You Can Play project, an organization dedicated to ensuring equality, respect and safety for all who participate in sports, including LGBTQ athletes, coaches and fans. Up next: A chance to ignore about 21⁄ 2 hours of the neverending Super Bowl pre-game shenanigans. It’s Raptors-Clippers on Sunday at 3 p.m. for the lone appearance of locally grown Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Barring a Toronto-Los Angeles NBA final, that is.