Milwaukee Bucks: 3 takeaways from 110-96 loss to Toronto Raptors
The losses continue to pile up for the Milwaukee Bucks after falling to the Toronto Raptors 110-96 Thursday night at Fiserv Forum.
As they continue to be without Jrue Holiday, who remains in the league’s health and safety protocols, the Bucks have subsequently wilted and lost all balance they had prior to this five-game losing streak. The Raptors continued to take advantage of that again Thursday night in a matchup they thoroughly dominated.
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The Bucks tried to give it a go over the second half and conjure up a comeback that never cut into the Raptors’ double-digit lead, which they comfortably secured for the majority of the night.
So without further ado, let’s dive into what stood out from the Bucks’ second straight defeat to the Toronto Raptors.
Takeaway no. 3 from loss to Toronto Raptors — Thanasis Antetokounmpo tries to light a spark for Milwaukee Bucks
With the Bucks lacking on energy and sleepwalking through such a shock to the system, Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer turned to Thanasis Antetokounmpo to infuse some kind of boost.
While the elder Antetokounmpo had played a grand total of five minutes and 54 seconds over the last two weeks, this ‘break glass in case of emergency’ scenario opened the door for Thanasis to see the floor. In over seven-and-a-half minutes of action, Thanasis finished with five points on 2-of-6 shooting, three boards and was a +6 in his short spurt.
The whirling dervish that he is on both ends of the floor, Antetokounmpo tried to light a fire under his squad by putting down easy dunks when set up at the dunker spot and taking on great defensive challenges. It certainly wasn’t pretty at times, especially when Thanasis missed some bunnies at the rim, but the overall tone Thanasis brought to the floor led to some of the Bucks’ most inspired moments on the night.
Whether it was spur of the moment type thing or not, Thanasis isn’t short on energy, even as his overall game isn’t as well-rounded as his spirit. Nevertheless, his usage would have been reflected better had things not been as big of a mess for the Bucks to begin with.