Milwaukee Bucks: Recent History Against Toronto Raptors
By Adam McGee
2015-16 Season: Raptors Win 4-0
After a feisty first round playoff exit to the Chicago Bulls and a .500 season, the Bucks entered 2015-16 with a marquee free agent in tow in the form of Greg Monroe, and sky-high expectations. What could possibly go wrong?
The answer is a lot, and those weaknesses showed up very clearly in the Bucks’ encounters with the Raptors.
Bucks 87, Raptors 106; Nov. 1, 2015 – Air Canada Centre
Having performed poorly in their first two games of the season, the Bucks failed to show any real signs of improvement as they made the trip over the border to play the Raptors.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, an accomplished Raptors team had little difficulty beating a Bucks group that included Johnny O’Bryant and Michael Carter-Williams as starters, and Chris Copeland and Damien Inglis coming in off the bench.
A 20 point, nine rebound performance from Giannis Antetokounmpo wasn’t enough to make this one remotely competitive as the Raptors finished with six different players in double digits.
Bucks 83, Raptors 90; Dec. 11, 2015 – Air Canada Centre
Things had gone so badly for the Bucks since their first meeting of the season with the Raptors, that little over a month later when they visited Toronto again, MCW had been demoted to the bench and the O.J. Mayo point guard era had begun.
Mayo was inserted into the starting lineup in the hopes of tightening up the Bucks’ defense, and in this case Milwaukee was at least able to keep the game low-scoring enough so that they could hang around.
In spite of closing the lead to only four points midway through the fourth, the efforts of Giannis and Khris fell short. DeRozan led all scorers with 27 points as Toronto prevailed.
Raptors 111, Bucks 90; Dec. 26, 2015 – Bradley Center
The Raptors have long been one of the league’s better fourth quarter teams, and they made the Bucks pay in that regard on this occasion. Having played well for three quarters and entered the final 12 minutes with a rare lead over the Raptors, the Bucks fell to pieces.
Milwaukee got torched from three-point range and outplayed by Toronto’s bench in the latter stages, rendering impressive performances from Middleton and Monroe meaningless in the final outcome.
Raptors 107, Bucks 89; Mar. 15, 2016 – Bradley Center
With Toronto missing key starters Jonas Valanciunas and DeMar DeRozan, the Bucks had to have liked their chances of picking up their first home win over the Raptors in just over three years. A well-rounded effort from a number of Raptors reserves meant that wasn’t to be the case, though.
Although Milwaukee got strong contributions from Giannis and Jabari, their improved post All-Star break play wasn’t going to be enough to single-handedly get their team a win. Unfortunately, the help from their teammates wasn’t forthcoming.