3 takeaways from the Milwaukee Bucks close loss to Toronto Raptors

Sandro Mamukelashvili impresses in his minutes for the Milwaukee Bucks

Out of pure necessity due to missing Giannis Antetokounmpo and DeMarcus Cousins, we saw a heavy dose of Sandro Mamukelashvili tonight who played over 22 minutes and was playing as late as five minutes left in the fourth quarter due to a bit of Bobby Portis foul trouble.

He had the worst plus/minus of either team at minus-12 but still felt pretty impactful on the glass where the Bucks needed him. He had 10 rebounds total, including a new career-high six offensive rebounds.

The Bucks were severely lacking in size against an active Raptors frontcourt and it showed, giving up 15 offensive rebounds but, thanks in part to Mamukelashvili, they grabbed 16 of their own on the offensive glass.

Sure, he’s not much of a rim protector and the Raptors found ways to go after him when he was defending, but he’s a second-round rookie. Those things are going to happen, especially as a big, but he was still able to play his game and find ways to be impactful and give them solid minutes.

He should have had his first career double-double but had a basket taken away because it came just after the shot clock expired after a review. This was Mamukelashvili’s most minutes since the Bucks’ blowout loss to the Heat in the third game of the season and there are certainly some positives that can be taken away from it.

You shouldn’t expect him to see minutes of any significance if all three of Antetokounmpo, Portis, and Cousins are available but it was a good confidence booster for the rookie to show that he can compete against NBA competition. He’s averaging over 20 points per game on 67 percent true shooting in three G League games for the Wisconsin Herd, so it’s something to build on going forward.

The Bucks will be back at home for a pair of games, starting with the Miami Heat on Saturday where P.J. Tucker will receive his championship ring and likely a very warm welcome from Bucks fans.