The Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors found themselves in very different positions heading into last night’s matchup at Fiserv Forum.
Milwaukee was coming off a commanding 19-point win over the Golden State Warriors, who have been as good as any team this season. Meanwhile, Toronto had just suffered a grueling loss to the Detroit Pistons, who have been among the worst teams this year, the night before. While all of the momentum should have been in Milwaukee’s favor, it did not quite pan out that way in their game against Toronto last night.
After rifling off a quick 16-2 lead in the opening minutes, the Bucks ever so slowly let the Raptors chop away at that deficit to trail by just three points at halftime. Toronto quickly took control of the game in the opening minutes of the second half as Milwaukee continues struggling to stay above water in third quarters this season. Once the Raptors gained the lead early in the third, they never looked back and secured the 103-96 victory to sweep the season series against the Bucks 3-0.
While the Bucks were down arguably their second-best player this season in Jrue Holiday, that is no excuse for the loss. The Raptors were missing several key components as well and managed to embarrass the Bucks on their home floor. This Milwaukee team will have to look in the mirror after dropping their fifth straight game against Toronto, but in the meantime, here are a few takeaways from last night’s game.
Grayson Allen proved to be the only bright spot for the Milwaukee Bucks in loss to Toronto Raptors
Obviously, there will never be too many positive takeaways from a game where the Bucks blew a double-digit lead and lost. However, Grayson Allen is the lone exception in this case as he played well in his second game back in Milwaukee’s lineup.
Allen started the game off red-hot as he scored 10 quick points, letting it fly with confidence as he helped propel Milwaukee’s early run. He added five more points before the half and led the team in points at the break. It was a quiet second half for the guard as he added only three more points to his total. Despite being one of Milwaukee’s only sources of consistent offense, Allen did not get as many shot attempts throughout the second half. In total, Allen tallied with 18 points on the night, the second-most on the team while shooting a red-hot 6-of-11, including 3-of-6 from deep.
Despite the loss, it was welcoming to see Allen put together a solid performance. The guard had been struggling to find his shot before entering the NBA’s health and safety protocols recently, but he has looked rejuvenated over these past two games. Hopefully the sharpshooter can keep the ball rolling offensively as the Bucks look to bounce back moving forward.