The Toronto Raptors pummeled the tired Milwaukee Bucks 128-100 tonight. Toronto’s blowout win was fueled by their hot shooting from three—they went 17/38 from outside. RJ Barrett and Scottie Barnes paced the Raps with 23 points each. It was a night to forget for almost every Buck, including Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had a relatively pedestrian 22 points and three assists.
Both teams came out with guns blazing, combining for six threes on the first seven total possessions. Gary Trent Jr., eager to show out against his former squad, hit two of them. Scottie Barnes, who’s been on fire this season, also made a pair. RJ Barrett swished _his_ second trey at the 8:00 mark to make the score 20-13, Raptors, just four minutes into the game. A high-octane shootout was underway. Milwaukee started to find success pressuring the paint against Toronto’s undersized frontcourt of Collin Murray-Boyles and Bucks legend Sandro Mamukelashvili, opening the gate for a 9-0 run that ended at the 4:30 tick. The Raptors didn’t stop their three-point barrage, though, and when the dust settled on the first quarter, they had a 39-29 advantage. Toronto went 9/15 from deep in the first frame alone.
The Bucks ran with an all-bench lineup of Cole Anthony, Amir Coffey, Taurean Prince, Kyle Kuzma, and Bobby Portis to start the second, which, as you might imagine, led to some awkward offensive trips. That crew did enough scrapping to stay within a 10-point margin, but when Giannis finally checked back in halfway through the quarter, it was long overdue. The Raptors were unfazed by the return of the Greek Freak, though, getting some stops on him inside and finding gaps in Milwaukee’s zone defense. Toronto held a 19-point lead with two minutes on the clock, fueled by a 12-2 run, and they held on to lead 73-54 at halftime. RJ Barrett and Giannis both had 15 points at intermission, with Quickley and Barnes adding 13 apiece for the home team.
Milwaukee showed some minor signs of life to kick off the second stanza, with AJ Green drilling two triples and Ryan Rollins aggressively attacking the rim, but it was false hope; the team couldn’t string together stops _or_ scores. They looked lackadaisical, as clubs often do on the second night of a back-to-back. The Bucks were able to cut the deficit to 15 and force a timeout by the 7:00 mark, but after that stoppage, they went on to score just four points in the next four minutes. The sleepiness was practically tangible. Even their more engaged possessions, where defenders scrambled and made extra efforts, would still end in points for the Raptors. Ja’Kobe Walter banked in a tough and-one right before the buzzer, capping off a 20-8 Toronto run, and the Bucks were down 105-80 heading into the fourth.
The final quarter was a fitting nightcap for what was turning into a sleepy affair. The two teams combined for three points up until the 8:00 stamp, when Ryan Rollins knocked down a three. Doc Rivers started to empty his bench shortly after that, with Jericho Sims and Gary Harris both checking in for some extended action. Mark Sears got some burn as well, and the rookie scored his first NBA points, giving Bucks fans something to be excited about in an otherwise dreary contest. Garbage time played out as garbage time usually does, and the Raptors wrapped up with a no-doubt victory.
Not to scapegoat one player, but Bobby Portis went 1/8 from the field for just two points. When he’s not providing a scoring spark, he’s really not doing much of anything. He’s a no-show on defense more often than not. The minutes with him at the five felt especially bad for the Bucks tonight.