Milwaukee Bucks Dominate Toronto Raptors In Game 1 On The Road
The Milwaukee Bucks took a 1-0 lead in their first round playoff series thanks to a road win over the Toronto Raptors.
The Toronto Raptors hung close with the Milwaukee Bucks for most of the night, despite star point guard Kyle Lowry having an abysmal shooting night. But a fourth quarter that saw only 13 Raptors points meant that Rashad Vaughn got to close the game out as the Bucks won handily, 97 to 83.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was nothing short of phenomenal. Getting to the rim seemingly at will, he took the game into his hands. He dunked over everyone in the first half, including forcing his way past known rim protector Serge Ibaka.
Jason Kidd experimented in the first half, playing 11 players, something almost unheard of in the playoffs. But he tightened the rotation in the second half which helped the Bucks come back from five points down at halftime.
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The Milwaukee Bucks and the Toronto Raptors traded blows to start the game. Midway through the first quarter, the two teams were tied at 15 following a Serge Ibaka dunk. The Bucks then went on a seven-point run, and Greg Monroe scored six points in as many minutes. The Bucks took an eight point lead into the second.
The Raptors quickly worked their way back in the second quarter. Five points from Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas and two three pointers saw the Raptors close it to within one point before three minutes had passed, and forced a Bucks timeout.
Bucks tried a number of different lineups, but had only scored 10 second quarter points by the time the Raptors had scored 17. DeMar DeRozan brought the game into the half strong for the Raptors, scoring 10 points in the second.
The Bucks battled right back to start the second half, and evened the game at 53 after a 7-0 Bucks run that saw two shots from Giannis and a Tony Snell three. Thon Maker bothered shots at the rim, and in general made life difficult for the Raptors guards. Before he left the game, he had blocked shots from both Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. The game was even at 68 with 3:28 to go in the third, but the Raptors couldn’t hit another shot before the quarter ended, and the Bucks were left with a five point lead.
Up until the fourth, Khris Middleton had made only one shot, a dunk, and missed eight. But before the Raptors would score another basket, Khris would score four points, as would Moose, and with another shot coming from Delly, the Bucks were suddenly up 14 with eight minutes to go. They never looked back the rest of the way, as Giannis took over and Moose made some great plays as the desperate Raptors fell to a 19 point deficit with 1:54 remaining. After DeRozan took exception to being viciously rejected by Giannis on a layup attempt, the refs gave Giannis a questionable technical, and Giannis was pulled from the game.
The Bucks frustrated the Raptors’ guards, and Kyle Lowry was uncharacteristically dreadful from deep, missing all six of his shots, despite being left very open at times. The Bucks took great care of the ball, with only five turnovers, and attempted 10 more shots from the field than the Raptors.
These teams will meet for game two of the series on Tuesday at 6.00pm CT.