Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways From Loss to Toronto Raptors
By Reid Mueller
After an ugly mid-week loss to Philadelphia, the Milwaukee Bucks continued to struggle against the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.
The first quarter has been an up and down period for the Milwaukee Bucks of late, and it proved no different on Friday.
They started off well creating an early 8-4 lead. The Bucks got early buckets by making simple passes to take advantage of some low energy defense. But when Giannis Antetokounmpo left with early foul trouble, the Raptors, who were without DeMar DeRozan, figured it out and went on a large 22-2 run to take a 27-13 lead.
After Giannis went to the bench with his two fouls, the Bucks’ offense couldn’t get anything going, scoring just six more points during the quarter. Milwaukee was down 36-19, and in desperate need of composure after committing eight turnovers.
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Looking for some energy, Jason Kidd turned to Thon Maker and Rashad Vaughn to start the second quarter. Thon came in and drew a quick foul, knocking down both free throws. On the next possession, he came up big again with a block to force a shot clock violation. The rookie followed up his big block, with a drop off non-contested dunk. The slim, big man brought the energy.
Vaughn probably had his best defensive stretch of his career. He got his hands on multiple balls that disrupted the momentum of the Raptors offense. By using his frame, the second year guard kept his matchup from being able to drive to the rim or kick it out effectively.
The Bucks once again started the quarter playing quite well, but were unable to maintain momentum going into the half down 53-39, only making up four points.
Most of the third quarter was controlled by the Raptors. Other than a stretch that saw Matthew Dellavedova hit a rare three straight three-pointers, the Bucks were unable to slow down the Raptors attack for the first six minutes.
Down 16 points and in desperate need of a run, the trio of Giannis, Jabari, and Greg Monroe took control of the game. Milwaukee would finish the third quarter down by seven, after dominating in the paint over the final six minutes.
As veteran teams love to do, Toronto closed the game out with good defense. Milwaukee would be outscored 25-16 in the quarter, and never got the game back within nine during that period.