Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways From Loss To Toronto Raptors

Small Ball Success for Toronto

Prior to the game, the Toronto Raptors announced that they would be starting Norman Powell over Jonas Valanciunas. This would move Serge Ibaka over to playing center full time, and give the Raptors a new dimension from the perimeter on offense.

Since the Raptors didn’t seem to want to feed Valanciunas in the post to take advantage of his size mismatch against Thon, starting Powell was a good choice to help the offense. In his 34 minutes he added three triples and four assists. Powell didn’t miss any of his shots from deep, and was tied for the second highest plus-minus on the team.

Toronto also benefited from the change leaving Ibaka in a better position to influence shots defensively. He finished the game with three blocks and two steals, and was effective despite a poor night on offense.

The sample size is small, but the approach the Raptors took paid off. Going forward, it’ll be interesting to see how the Bucks choose to deal with this, or if there is something they can do to take advantage.

While the Bucks’ starting lineup is now much bigger than Toronto’s, they posted their poorest offensive performance, and failed to take advantage of their many mismatches.