Rapid Recap: Bucks 110, Raptors 129

Yikes, what started with an optimistic narrow loss to the Toronto Raptors on Monday ended with a crushing defeat tonight for the Milwaukee Bucks 129-110. Milwaukee was in it till halftime, but the Raptors pulled away in the second half to win comfortably.

Milwaukee should be disappointed by tonight’s loss, particularly considering it was an all-around performance by Raptors players that took them down. Giannis Antetokounmpo came to play, but Milwaukee’s defense again looked like a sieve against the potent Toronto O.

Giannis celebrated his All-Star vote leader coronation in style tonight, putting up 24 points, five rebounds and five assists while tossing home a few highlight finishes in transition. Unfortunately, his fellow Bucks were a bit more out of sorts tonight, although defense was the primary problem for everyone in a white uni tonight.

Malcolm Brogdon and Eric Bledsoe were decent dancing partners tonight, scoring 17 points each. Khris Middleton was off the mark a bit, going for just 11 points and shooting 4-10 from the field albeit with seven assists to go with it.

It was an across the board decimation for Toronto against the Bucks tonight. Jonas Valanciunas had 21 points and 13 rebounds, DeMar DeRozan had 20, Serge Ibaka poured in 20 as well and Kyle Lowry added 15. It was really an across the board thrashing for all Raptors who feasted on the Bucks’ carcass.

Stat that Stood Out

Milwaukee only made three less 3-pointers than Toronto tonight (10-7), but the attempts are what was more concerning to me. Milwaukee attempted just 17 from deep compared to the Raptors’ 33. Even if the actual scoring totals aren’t considerably different, Milwaukee should be striving to get closer to what the Raptors have achieved this season with increased chucks from beyond the line. As stated earlier though, the defense was really the bottom line issue for this loss.