The Tip-Off tournament run came to an end for Milwaukee Bucks’ affiliate Bucks Gaming as they ran into the Raptors Uprising buzzsaw in the quarter finals.
Even before Bucks Gaming produced a fantastic day’s play to advance to the bracket round of the NBA 2K League’s Tip-Off tournament, it was clear that they hadn’t gotten particularly lucky with the tournament draw.
That was hammered home on Thursday night as the Milwaukee Bucks’ gaming affiliate went head to head with Raptors Uprising GC in a best of 3 quarter final series, and got an up close and personal look at why exactly the Canadian franchise have emerged as the best team in the 2K League to this point in the season.
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Boasting a perfect 9-0 record, and three wins more than the next best teams in regular season play at present, Toronto have established themselves as a true force to be reckoned with, and there was little reason to believe that was going to change in tournament play.
Unfortunately for the Bucks, that proved to be the case on Thursday too.
Riding the momentum of a resurgence in regular season form and strong play to progress out of the group stages, Bucks Gaming certainly came out of the gate fighting to establish an early foothold against the Raptors.
In the end, Milwaukee’s first quarter lead proved to be something of a false dawn. That narrow 15-13 advantage didn’t last long as the Raptors came back strong in the second quarter, opening up a nine-point lead at the half.
To the Bucks’ great credit, they came back out fighting in the third quarter, which is a period that the Raptors have usually dominated in their games this season.
Instead, the Bucks pulled back within one possession on multiple occasions, only to see Toronto pull away with a run of their own in response.
The air came out of the game somewhat in the fourth quarter, but the final score of 84-64 certainly flattered the Raptors, with the Bucks having offered up a much sterner resistance than that would suggest.
Worth noting is that Game 1 showing from the Bucks being a complete team effort, as all five Bucks scored in double digits, with Regg and Plondo reliably leading the way with 19 points and 11 assists, and 12 points and 15 rebounds, respectively.
Sadly for Milwaukee, facing a must-win in Game 2, they opened up in the worst possible fashion. With the Raptors allowed to open up a commanding lead early on, they never really looked back, taking the game 90-65, and closing out the series with a sweep.
The Bucks undoubtedly would have loved the game to be more competitive, but the reality is there’s no shame in losing to the Raptors at the moment.
Bucks Gaming still have plenty of positives which they should take from this week back into regular season play when they return to action on June 30 against the Celtics.