This is a game that should be fairly meaningless in the grand scheme of things. The Toronto Raptors sit comfortably in 2nd place in the Eastern Conference, too far ahead of the pack to worry about being overtaken and far enough behind the Cleveland Cavaliers that a late season push to catch them seems unlikely. On the other side we will have the Milwaukee Bucks, whose high hopes to start the season have been dashed and are now a longshot to earn a playoff berth. On first glance t’s hard to ascribe any real meaning to the game for either team.
Beneath the surface we have the Bucks angling to prove that they could have been up there if a few things had broken their way this year and they have a roster full of hungry young players looking to show that they’re going to be a force next season. They’re currently riding a three game winning streak, led by a pair of young forwards who have been stuffing stat sheets since the all-star break in Giannis Antentekoumpo(20 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks per game) and Jabari Parker(21 points, 7 rebounds per game). They don’t have a lot to play for as far as the standings go but they have a chip on their shoulder and coach Jason Kidd has them competing hard.
The Raptors, on the other hand, are just trying to show that people can believe in them. After being on the wrong end of two consecutive 1st round upsets it seems like everything has aligned for them to have an easy path to the Eastern Conference Finals this year but lately their armor has shown a chink or two with some losses to teams they should handle easily and the defense being inconsistent at best. They don’t need to win to gain or hold ground in the standings but they’re obviously concerned about their current level of play – especially after last night’s loss – and at some point need to start winning games convincingly to show that they’re still deserving of their spot near the top of the conference.
The Raptors still have something to prove, not to the fans or the media but to themselves. The coaching staff is understandably concerned with the teams current level of play and the players are visibly frustrated by their struggles. When you have hopes of making a deep playoff run that’s the last thing that you want to be experiencing down the stretch. Even if there is no tangible proof that momentum matters as you enter the playoffs the Raptors can leave nothing to chance after the way the last two seasons have gone. They need to right the ship and show they can return to playing the defense they did in the first two months of the season, until they do that all of these seemingly meaningless late season games carry a greater importance than they need to. This is a bad thing because instead of resting stars and working out a kink or two in the offense or defense the Raptors are playing their stars more than ever and looking like they need major adjustments to their strategy, at least on the defensive end.
Injury Report
Raptors: Starting centre Jonas Valanciunas left last night’s game with a left hand contusion and did not return, his status is still unknown. DeMarre Carroll is still out and recovering from his knee surgery.
Bucks: Centre John Henson is set to return any day now from a back injury that has kept him out since 01/26/16 but Greivis Vasquez, Michael Carter-Williams and OJ Mayo remain out for the foreseeable future.
Player to Watch
Giannis Antentekoumpo has been a larger version of Russell Westbrook over the last few weeks, averaging close to a triple double now that a slew of guard injuries have forced the ball into his hands on offense. He’s a nightmare in transition because his long strides make it difficult to keep pace and his length makes it difficult to challenge his shot unless you’re waiting for him at the rim. In the halfcourt he struggles with his shot but he’s adept at scoring in the post, using his length to score over smaller defenders and his speed to go around anyone with enough size to bother him. The Raptors perimeter defense has been porous since the all-star break, going up against a star-in-the-making playing like he’s got something to prove could mean a long night for the Raptors and handful of highlight reel plays for the dynamic Bucks wing.
Three Keys for the Raptors:
Transition defense – the Bucks have an issue familiar to Raptors fans: they lack outside shooting in their halfcourt sets but their young, athletic wings make their transition attack deadly. The Raptors attention to detail on the defensive end has been lacking and they’ve had a tendency to either lose track of who they should be guarding or just straight up get beat down the floor. They need to put in the effort to ensure that they don’t let any Bucks slip out behind them and they need to communicate effectively so everyone knows who they’re supposed to be picking up. The Bucks don’t have the halfcourt scorers that the Raptors do, keeping the pace of the game down a bit will benefit the Raptors.
Build an early lead – this is a tough stretch for the Raptors, schedule-wise. It’s the first of a pair of home-away back to backs with one day off separating them – they played at home last night, in Milwaukee tonight then after a day of rest they play at Indiana and back in Toronto the next night. If they don’t give anyone a full night off it would be really beneficial for them to get up early, allow some of the fresher legs to get some minutes and rest overworked star Kyle Lowry.
Keep the ball moving – the Bucks have been an inconsistent defensive team this year but at least part of that has been due to the injury issues to Henson, who is an impact player for them in the paint. They’re a long, athletic team that can give a scorer like DeRozan a lot of trouble if they’re set when he’s trying to attack so it’s important for him to attack quickly and for the Raptors to keep shifting the defense by moving the ball and cutting. One on one play against this defense will get the Raptors nowhere.
Prediction:
If the Raptors rest DeRozan or Lowry the Bucks should run away with a fairly easy victory, if they play both of their star guards the Raptors will win another tight game against a subpar opponent.
