Bucks, Raptors battle for Eastern title

There’s a one-name superstar on either side: Giannis and Kawhi. There’s a Milwaukee franchise that hasn’t been to the NBA Finals in 45 years, opposite a Toronto franchise that has never been to the title round. The Bucks have a coach with an economics degree who wasn’t there last year; the Raptors have a coach with an accounting degree who wasn’t the boss last year.

Similarities abound between Milwaukee and Toronto.

Over the next couple of weeks, one team will separate itself.

The top-seeded Bucks play host to the second-seeded Raptors on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. They had the best records in the NBA this season — Milwaukee went 60-22, Toronto went 58-24 — and one of them will have home-court advantage for the NBA Finals starting May 30.

“You can’t get caught up in people’s expectations,” Raptors star Kawhi Leonard said Tuesday. “You’ve got to worry about self-expectations, team expectations, and winning, and that’s what we have to focus on. It doesn’t matter about the one-on-one matchup. This game isn’t a one-on-one basketball game.”

Leonard made the shot that sent Toronto to the conference final, a buzzer-beating corner jumper over Joel Embiid that bounced on the rim four times before dropping. The Bucks, predictably, were impressed.

However, they weren’t rattled. The team with the best regular-season record also has the best record in these playoffs so far at 8-1, and confidence is not in short supply. The Bucks’ only blemish in these playoffs is a Game

1 loss at home against Boston in the second round, a mistake that will be on their minds Wednesday.

“Against Boston, you can go down

1-0 and you’ll still be fine,” Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo said Tuesday. “But against Toronto, it’s hard to be in that spot, to lose the first game in your home.”

Milwaukee coach Mike Budenholzer is acutely aware of all that Leonard brings to the table. He was an assistant in San Antonio when Leonard was getting started there — after the Spurs, somewhat ironically, traded George Hill to Indiana for Leonard’s draft rights. Hill is now the Bucks’ backup point guard.

“He made a great first impression on San Antonio on his teammates, on his coaching staff,” Budenholzer said about his early days with Leonard.