Raptors 111, Bucks 90 | Quick Reaction | Box Score
The Toronto Raptors started strong against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, pulling out to a 22-17 lead at the end of the first quarter. It was a bit odd, only the ninth time in 31 games they won the opening frame by more than a possession (they’re 14-15-2 overall). In a reversal of their usual formula, they disengaged rather than finding the right gear, and entering the fourth they trailed by three. This, too, was somewhat unfamiliar, just the 11th time they’ve been down heading into the fourth.
For a team that’s felt a bit up-and-down at times, they’ve generally held to the script when it comes to starting slow and fighting their way back for a close final frame, good or bad. Their fourths have mostly been good, too, and they’ve often made appreciable comebacks or at least pulled close or even stole a tight game.
What happened in the fourth on Saturday wasn’t normal for this team. It wasn’t normal for this franchise. It wasn’t really normal for anyone.
The Raptors turned in their best quarter of the season, locking down on defense and spitting napalm on offense, outscoring the Bucks 35-11 on their way to a 111-90 victory. The 24-point edge is the team’s largest in a fourth quarter this season, largest in any quarter this season, the second largest in any quarter in franchise history, the fifth largest for any team in any quarter this season, and the second largest for any team in the fourth quarter this season. In other words, it was dominant.
Games are played over 48 minutes, there was plenty to note earlier in the game, and the Bucks aren’t exactly world-beaters, but it’s that fourth quarter that’s going to stand out when people think back to this game. That quarter showed what this Raptors team can look like when it’s firing on all cylinders, when the offense is flowing from the defense and when starter and reserve alike are contributing.
The Raptors used seven players in the frame, none of which was a center. Bismack Biyombo played well but the team was struggling with him out there, as he had difficulty with Greg Monroe and the Raptors point guards had difficulty against extra pick-and-roll attention against the super-long Bucks. That is to say, this team’s upside may be even more impressive when Jonas Valanciunas returns next week.
The team shot 13-of-20 from the floor, hit a scorching 8-of-11 from outside – hardly repeatable but mostly on quality looks – and dished 11 assists on 13 field goals, all with just two turnovers. The assists stand out most, and the Raptors had a season-high 31 for the game. It was beautiful, the ball darting around freely as Kyle Lowry opted to facilitate on a cold shooting night, Patrick Patterson decided he wanted to pass like Draymond Green for a bit, Cory Joseph found his rhythm late, and every Raptor was willing to pass up a good shot for a better one. That even cost them on one play, with the team being guilty of over-passing for the first time in memory.
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Ball movement doesn’t have to just set up a three, either, and the ball was whipping around throughout the game.
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Here’s a look from earlier in the game when the defense functioned exactly as it should, too:
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The team’s players really seemed geared up early, with Patterson and James Johnson each providing blocks in support of Biyombo’s own personal block party.
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Again, though, the defense slipped in the middle quarters, and the Raptors still need to find a way to string together 48 minutes. Lucas Nogueira played four minutes and got roasted by John Henson – I made four GIFs to that effect but have decided not to put him on blast like that – and the Raptors were slow to adjust to Monroe passing through soft double teams and scoring without them. Lowry did a nice job on Michael Carter-Williams for a third game in a row, but Khris Middleton was able to initiate for teammates off of drives and O.J. Mayo inexplicably and unexpectedly passed the ball some. The Bucks shot 56.1 percent and got 13 free-throw attempts in the middle two quarters, and the Raptors simply have to stop putting themselves in precarious positions.
The poor play at times is made all the more frustrating by how great they looked in the fourth. DeMar DeRozan, who carried the offense all game, even got to sit back some as Elite 3-Point Threat Luis Scola took over, Patterson played maybe his best quarter of the year, and T.J. Ross kept knocking down shots, shots he was generating by forcing turnovers at the other end. DeMarre Carroll even got in on the act, too, scoring five points with a steal in eight fourth-quarter minutes and appearing to find a groove late in the game.
All of these things happened in “just” one quarter, but they’re all encouraging. (Not to mention that quarter was insanely fun.)
I kind of had the stretch from Dec. 26 to Jan. 9 circled on the calendar once Carroll and Valanciunas went down. They both seemed they’d be back in that span, the first time the Raptors will have had a full squad in nearly six weeks. There are some marquee games, too, with two games each against Chicago and Washington and one on the road at Cleveland. It’s a somewhat dense part of the schedule, too. The Raptors entered Christmas 18-12 despite the injuries and some overstated schedule difficulties. This nine-game stretch includes six on the road and a pair of back-to-backs, good litmus tests. And after that, things kind of get easy – one game in England (Jan. 14) over an eight-day stretch and then a seven-game homestand. So this stretch from now until Jan. 9 kind of, to me, feels like their primary re-molding time. There are some good tests and some adversity, but the team is back to health with good things on the horizon, so use that time to make sure the team’s in good form entering a part of the schedule where they can really build momentum.
And so Saturday’s performance late is a good start to that end. Carroll was able to get re-acclimated. Ross and Patterson continued their breakout play of the last little while, play that’s going to be paramount to this team reaching their potential and reaching the playoffs healthy. Lowry and DeRozan weren’t leaned on heavily at all. And earlier in the game, two other role players in Biyombo and Johnson were able to provide good minutes, too.
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Save for Nogueira, everyone turned in a strong outing, and Nogueira is probably headed back to deep-reserve duty shortly. Valanciunas raises the team’s ceiling even higher, and if he and Carroll can build a chemistry with the starters that wasn’t there before the injuries, the Raptors should find themselves in a good place a few weeks from now.
Saturday’s fourth quarter was an example of what basketball looks like in that good place.
For the record, I realize this recap is a bit rambly, I apologize. After the quick reaction I jumped over to the D-League game to do the recap and then back to this recap, so I’m a bit fried. I also wanted to save a few notes for a Breaking it Down on Monday. So I apologize for this being a bit all over the place. And in that spirit, a few random notes:
*In 17 minutes with center-less lineups (Scola was at the pivot), the Raptors outscored the Bucks by 32 points. That’s awesome. It’s not a look they can go to often against some match-ups, but it’s encouraging that head coach Dwane Casey should at least be comfortable with trying it at times. I still maintain a Johnson-Patterson frontcourt can have success if deployed right, too.
*Pretty excited to get Valanciunas back not only because everyone seems to forget he was playing quite well before he was hurt, but because those center-less lineups with Valanciunas in place of Scola should be really good. The team also gets their “closing unit” of Joseph-Lowry-DeRozan-Carroll-Valanciunas back, and that five-some was crushing opponents.
*Even when Joseph is struggling, he’s solid. He found a groove on offense late and his defense is always solid, but he hasn’t looked quite himself of late. Watch here as he fails to ice the pick-and-roll and still manages to recover to where he needs to be (thanks in part to Biyombo recognizing the play):
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*Lowry is only shooting 35.3 percent and averaging 5.4 assists over his last eight games, but so much of the team’s offense still gets generated by his dribble-penetration, and he sets the energy level for the whole group. Don’t look at his recent scoring numbers and think he hasn’t been doing his job, even if he’s ceded the offensive reigns to the red-hot DeRozan some.
*Really think the Raptors will get up for the Bulls on Monday. It’s a team they’re slightly ahead of in record, roughly on par with in terms of overall quality and projection, and a team they’re not in the league of yet in terms of reputation. I have a feeling the Raptors have this one circled.
*Again, apologies for the scrambled nature of the post-game.
