Milwaukee Bucks: 3 things to watch for vs. Toronto Raptors in Orlando

Milwaukee Bucks: 3 things to watch for vs. Toronto Raptors in Orlando – Catching up with the champs

More than a year after the departure of two-time NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, the Raptors continue to show their resiliency, cohesion, and their overall talent as they look to defend their title from last year.

Of course, at the center of all that is head coach Nick Nurse, who certainly looks to be the prohibitive favorite for this year’s NBA Coach of the Year award as he’s led the Raptors to a 50-19 record at this point.

The combination of Nurse’s inventiveness and the Raptors’ established foundation headlined by the likes of Kyle Lowry, Marc Gasol, and Pascal Siakam has seen them lean on their ‘strength in numbers’-like identity, especially on the defensive end of the ball.

As the Bucks are well aware, the Raptors’ penchant for wreaking havoc defensively has been the backbone of their success this season as they rank second in defensive efficiency, trailing only the Bucks in that regard, per NBA.com/stats. And that fearsome defense has made them even more terrorizing down in Orlando as they’re currently the only team holding their opponents under a point per possession with their 99.6 defensive rating through their first five games.

Their offense, on the other hand, isn’t nearly as formidable or staggering, though they did average 110.8 points per 100 possessions by the season suspension, a mark that ranked 12th in the league. But since restarting the season, only the Los Angeles Lakers have had a worse offensive rating than the Raptors down in Orlando.

And much of that can be owed to the sloppiness they have had with the ball as Toronto has the worst turnover percentage of any team so far in the restart. So, while the Raptors are quite the fearsome foe, they aren’t immune from the very things that teams like the Bucks and a number of title contenders are currently dealing with since the season picked back up.