Milwaukee Bucks Preview: Game 1 at Toronto Raptors

Major Key For Toronto: Keep Eyes On Shooters

The importance of shooting is exactly why the Raptors need to keep an eye on Milwaukee’s shooters as well. Toronto has good defenders such as P.J. Tucker and Serge Ibaka, but Giannis Antetokounmpo is too damn good for either of them to bottle him up single-handedly.

That leaves Toronto with two choices. Let Giannis do what he will against single coverage, or try to send help. The Raptors will likely have to assist at least a little to prevent the Greek Freak from truly showing out, but Toronto also has to be careful about abandoning Milwaukee’s auxiliary scorers.

Khris Middleton, who is a danger to score and create in his own right as well, plus Tony Snell, Malcolm Brogdon, Matthew Dellavedova, Mirza Teletovic, Jason Terry and Thon Maker can all hit triples. Milwaukee is a team of three general playmakers: Giannis, Middleton and Brogdon.

All three of those Bucks are more than capable of finding an open shooter, and the Bucks as a team pass extremely well. The Raptors tend to rely on Lowry and DeRozan to handle the ball for most of the time, but as a team average just 18.5 assists per game.

That’s the worst mark among NBA teams, and it’s more than an assist less per game than the 29th-ranked Phoenix Suns. Milwaukee is a team on the other end of the spectrum, as the Bucks are fifth in assists per game with 24.2 of them per contest.

Even after a few good passes, the Raptors will need to keep an eye on each and every Buck, because this team is capable of passing up good shots for even better looks.