National Basketball Association
Toronto 102, Milwaukee 86
When: 7:30 PM ET, Friday, January 27, 2017
Where: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Officials:
#6 Tony Brown, #19 James Capers, #63 Derek Richardson
Attendance:
19800
By The Sports Xchange
TORONTO -- If someone was going to snap the Toronto Raptors out if their funk, it figured that Kyle Lowry would be the guy.
"Kyle told us it's much more than words, it needs to be actions," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "And in that first quarter, showed us what you needed. Words are shallow. Actions at this time of year are more important."
The All-Star point guard? scored 12 points and had five assists in Toronto's 36-point first quarter and finished with 32 points and six assists to lead the Raptors to a 102-86 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night to stop a five-game losing skid.
"We had a hard time with him, that's why he's an All-Star, that's why he's one of the better point guards in the league," Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. "He puts a lot of pressure on your defense. He causes problems on the offensive end, he's going to put pressure but defensively you have to be aware of him because he comes up with steals, he's always causing havoc. We didn't do a good job with him tonight."
It was the third win over the Bucks this season by the Raptors, who have won 13 of the past 14 meetings between the teams dating to the start of the 2013-14 season.
The Raptors did it without their other All-Star guard, DeMar DeRozan, who has missed the past three games with an ankle injury.
Lowry said the absence of his fellow All-Star guard has given him a sense of urgency.
"The last three games I've had that because DeMar is not here, and I have to come out and be more aggressive" Lowry said. "Tonight was an overall team effort, everybody played well and we got the win."
The Raptors, who led by as many as 19 points, took a seven-point advantage into the fourth quarter. They opened a 15-point lead early in the fourth on Patrick Patterson's 3-pointer.
Norman Powell added 19 points for the Raptors (29-18). Patterson added 10 points while Jonas Valanciunas scored eight points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
"I think it was the energy we played with," Powell said. "We just came out with a lot of energy. We were playing for one another, really focused on the little things and competed hard for the full 48 minutes."
Jabari Parker had 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Bucks (21-25), who have lost seven of their past eight games. Giannis Antetokounmpo added 19 points and Matthew Dellavedova 11 for Milwaukee.
The Bucks made a couple of runs, but could get no closer than eight points in the fourth quarter.
"We did, but it's kind of hard when we're trailing the whole game to play catch-up," Parker said. "The momentum was definitely in their court. For us, it's trying to get better on the mistakes, turning our weaknesses into a strength because we can't stay with teams who pretty much attack us the same way every game. They hit some big 3s and that's pretty much one of our weaknesses again."
The Raptors went on a 17-0 run during the first quarter, led by as many as 19 points and were ahead 36-19 entering the second quarter.
The Bucks scored the first nine points of the second quarter to trim Toronto's lead to eight.
"The guys that came in at the end of the first quarter, start of the second quarter, they did a great job of getting us back in the game," Antetokounmpo said. "It's hard to get back into the game when the lead is so much."
Lowry's 3-pointer with 1:08 to play in the half gave the Raptors a 16-point lead and they led 53-39 at the intermission.
Antetokounmpo made two free throws with 57.5 seconds left in the third quarter to cut the lead to eight and Toronto led 77-70 after three quarters.
After the Raptors led by 15, the Bucks came back to trim the lead to nine on Rashad Vaughn's 3-pointer with 5:11 to play.
Cory Joseph's driving layup with 4:22 to play put Toronto's lead at 13 and Lowry's basket nudged the lead to 15.
NOTES: Toronto G DeMar DeRozan (sprained right ankle) missed his third consecutive game Friday after being injured in the second half on Sunday. He was checked out Friday morning and it was determined that he should not play against the Bucks. ... The Raptors last lost five games in a row Feb. 21-28, 2015, and the last time they lost six straight was Dec.3-12, 2012. ... The Bucks picked up a total of 28 steals in their two previous games, a season-high 17 Monday in a win over the Houston Rockets and 11 in the loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday. ... The Raptors play the second game of three straight at home against the Orlando Magic on Sunday. ... The Bucks will play the Boston Celtics at the BMO Harris Bradley Center on Saturday.
Top Game Performances
Milwaukee |
|
Toronto |
Jabari Parker 21 |
Scoring |
Kyle Lowry 32 |
Giannis Antetokounmpo 8 |
Assists |
Kyle Lowry 6 |
Jabari Parker 13 |
Rebounds |
Jonas Valanciunas 11 |
Giannis Antetokounmpo 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Kyle Lowry 11 |
Rashad Vaughn 2 |
Steals |
Cory Joseph 2 |
Giannis Antetokounmpo 3 |
Blocks |
Lucas Nogueira 4 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Milwaukee
|
86 |
38.8 |
7-23 |
17-24 |
19 |
43 |
7 |
6 |
19 |
Toronto
|
102 |
44.0 |
10-25 |
18-23 |
20 |
47 |
10 |
9 |
16 |
Upcoming Games
-
Toronto will play their next game at home against Orlando. The Raptors have a W/L % of .643 after a win and .579 after a loss.
-
Milwaukee will play their next game at home against Boston. The Bucks have a W/L % of .409 after a win and .500 after a loss.