TORONTO -- There is something about the first game of the playoffs for the Toronto Raptors.

They just do not play well in series openers.

They were at it again Saturday, putting in a lethargic effort against the Milwaukee Bucks in the opener of a best-of-seven first-round playoff series.

Whatever the problem, the Bucks gladly took advantage of it by producing a 97-83 victory, led by 28 points and eight rebounds from Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Raptors are 0-9 in the opening game of a first-round playoff series in franchise history and 1-10 in Game 1 overall.

"I don't know, I have no clue," said DeMar DeRozan, who led the Raptors with 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds, when asked about the first-game woes. "It's not something we're unfamiliar with. ... We make it hard on ourselves."

Malcolm Brogdon added 16 points for the Bucks, Greg Monroe had 14 points and 15 rebounds, Tony Snell and Matthew Dellavedova added 11 points each, and Khris Middleton chipped in with 10 points and nine assists.

"I thought our defense was up to par this evening by just playing hard," Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. "We're a young team and it starts with playing hard and trusting one another, and they did that this evening."

The worst that the Bucks can do is return home with a split of the first two games.

"It's big for us," Antetokounmpo said. "But we have to focus on Game 2. Right now, we know they are going to be more desperate in Game 2. We have to stay together, stay focused."

Serge Ibaka added 19 points and 14 rebounds for Toronto, and Jonas Valanciunas had nine points and nine rebounds.

"Our second half was just abysmal," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "We didn't play with any pace, any rhythm, any movement. Have to give them credit, they did a good job defensively. ... We were just totally out of rhythm in the second half. We didn't do a good job of getting back in transition."

The Bucks outscored the Raptors 51-32 in the second half.

"I don't know if we played hard enough to deserve a chance to win," Casey said.

Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry was held to four points and six assists on 2-of-11 shooting from the field.

"He had some good looks," Casey said. "He just missed some shots. They weren't doing anything different than we were expecting them to do."

The Raptors shot 36 percent from the field and the Bucks shot 44.7 percent.

"We missed a lot of shots that we normally make," DeRozan said. "We have to understand that we can't let that affect us getting back in transition. They took advantage of it and put us away with the lead."

The Bucks took a five-point lead into the fourth quarter and stretched it to 14 after four minutes.

When Antetokounmpo made a jumper with 2:38 to play, Milwaukee led by 17 points.

"Giannis is a special player and he can cause a problem by getting two or three guys on him and, for him, just being able to read," Kidd said. "I thought our guys did a great job of sharing the ball, the ball wasn't sticking and they didn't care who shot it or who made the shot, it was about making the right play."

Middleton's driving dunk with 1:17 to play closed out the scoring in the first quarter and gave Milwaukee a 30-22 lead.

The Raptors led 51-46 after the first half.

"Coming out of halftime, Thon (Maker) definitely did a great job of protecting the rim for us (and had three blocked shots on the game)," Monroe said. "And guys just helped each other out defensively. Any time you are playing these guys, you have to contain DeRozan and Lowry.

"So it's about just doing whatever you can to slow them down. When we did finish with the rebound, just getting out on the run, the same thing we have been talking about all year."

After Toronto took a seven-point lead on two free throws by Valanciunas, the Bucks tied the score on Snell's 3-pointer with 9:24 left in the third quarter.

Brogdon's 3-pointer gave Milwaukee the lead with 8:16 left in the quarter. Middleton finished the third-quarter scoring with two free throws and Milwaukee led 75-70.

Monroe's layup opened the fourth quarter to give Milwaukee a seven-point lead. Middleton's fadeaway jumper made it a 10-point lead with 9:33 to play. Middleton bumped the lead to 14 with a floating jumper.

NOTES: Toronto has won 13 of the past 15 regular-season meetings with Milwaukee. The Bucks beat the Raptors on March 4 to end a seven-game losing streak against Toronto. ... The teams had never met in the playoffs before this series. ... Raptors F P.J. Tucker made his playoff debut. He has appeared in 418 regular-season games. Bucks F/C Greg Monroe also made his playoff debut after playing 538 regular-season games. ... Raptors F Serge Ibaka appeared in his 90th playoff game. ... The second game of the best-of-seven series will be Tuesday night at the Air Canada Centre.