Morning Coffee – Wed, Apr 19

10 things I saw from Raptors-Bucks (Game 2) – The Defeated Adjustments: Dwane Casey pushed the right buttons after Game 1. He went away from the Lowry and bench unit with Jonas Valanciunas, and instead used Jakob Poeltl for the first half before riding with Ibaka for the second. That lineup needs defense and good…

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Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images

Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images

10 things I saw from Raptors-Bucks (Game 2) – The Defeated

Adjustments: Dwane Casey pushed the right buttons after Game 1. He went away from the Lowry and bench unit with Jonas Valanciunas, and instead used Jakob Poeltl for the first half before riding with Ibaka for the second. That lineup needs defense and good spacing on offense, which Valanciunas can’t provide.

Raptors have just enough to buck the Bucks: Arthur | Toronto Star

On Lowry’s jumper, that was trust, too — DeRozan was doubled, he moved it to Ibaka, Ibaka found Lowry, Lowry made the play on his own. In the end, the Raptors had 24 assists on 37 field goals, hit a franchise playoff record 14 three-pointers, had Lowry and DeRozan combine for 55 points on 30 shots, and got that Ibaka surge in the second half — 13 points, four rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots, after which he celebrated like he had just escaped from Shawshank — and it was still hard.

“Oh yeah, it’s real relief,” Ibaka said. “Now we know it’s going to be a fight. We have to be ready to fight.”

What it takes to beat Milwaukee isn’t natural for these Raptors. Toronto was last in assisted baskets in 2015-16, and 28th the year before that. As Casey said, “you’re not gonna change what our DNA is. It’s been 82 games . . . you’re not gonna make DeMar DeRozan John Stockton.”

Stockton, of course, was the patron saint of pass-first point guards. These Raptors, meanwhile, are at a crossroads. This is the strongest team that team president Masai Ujiri has assembled, but he could disassemble it, if it falters. The East is wide open, LeBron and all. But this Milwaukee team is thorny, coached by the brilliant Jason Kidd, and they have the best player in the series. And they are so long, so otherworldly. Honestly, the Cleveland Cavaliers might be a better matchup, or at least a more comprehensible one.

But to get to there, the Raptors have to escape this. It won’t be easy, but it can be done.

Kyle Lowry, Raptors pass Game 2 test with no margin for error – Sportsnet.ca

After guarding Antetokounmpo in the post – “we don’t like that switch,” said Casey – it was Lowry who stepped up to drop the anvil on the Bucks. The same Lowry, who looked hesitant in Game 1 in putting up just 11 shots, letting the Bucks dictate his game, showed why the Raptors need him to be aggressive.

After DeRozan got rid of the ball while facing a Bucks double-team – the kind of smart decision-making that marked most of DeRozan’s night –Lowry was isolated against the Bucks’ rookie Malcolm Brogdon. He dribbled hard at him, backed him off and hit a step-back to put the game away with 8.9 seconds left.

“For me, I just wanted to get to my spot,” said Lowry. “I knew there was five seconds on the shot clock, I wanted to get to my spot. Get to my spot and let it go. At the end of the day, I work on my shot almost every day. So if I missed it, I would have still been happy because I got to my spot.

“But I was gonna try to make it.”

It was a relief as much as a success. Such is the lot of being the higher seed, the more experienced team. But it was a triumph, too, as the Raptors were fighting not only a resilient Bucks team, but their own ghosts as a favourite who can’t take care of business at home despite the adoration of crowds packed inside and outside the building.

Serge Ibaka’s Game 2 Was Everything the Raptors Needed and More – The Ringer

The Raptors, in spite of countless runs sparked by the percolating greatness of Giannis Antetokounmpo, narrowly escaped with a 106–100 victory at home largely because they knew this wasn’t Valanciunas’s series. They won because of a moment of foresight back in February, when the team did what it needed to in landing Serge Ibaka in an midseason deal. Over the last four seasons, Toronto has boasted one of the most traditionally constructed rosters in the league, a ’50s nuclear family on the hardwood. It doesn’t take much to completely reconfigure that DNA — only the rarest of modern-day NBA archetypes, the floor-spacing rim protector. The Raptors made sure they’d be armed with one come the postseason. Game 2 was exactly why.

It was Ibaka’s finest moment as a Raptor: 16 points (with 12 of them coming from 3, where he shot 4-of-7), seven rebounds, six assists, and two of the best blocks you’ll see all season against two of the Bucks’s longest, most athletic players. He was a game-high plus-13 in 35 and a half minutes. His performance in the third quarter was arguably the best I’d seen from him in years.

Raptors win Game 2 but something’s off | Toronto Sun

Dwane Casey’s thoughts on the offence breaking down after playing so well earlier: “I thought we lost our mind a little bit.

“We kind of got away from ourself as far as our passing, getting open shots. That’s something we have to be mindful of.”

True, because the Bucks will be waiting — and hoping — for those meaty opportunities that will let them morph into open-court predators.

“They made shots, it slowed us down, made us play in the half-court,” Jason Kidd said.

“We have to get back into the open court and to get guys running.”

The Raptors have to do a better job of not letting that happen for 48 minutes.

Raptors top Bucks in Game 2 duel to tie series | Toronto Star

The Raptors needed every bit that Lowry gave them. They needed the 23 points DeRozan chipped in, and the rock-solid second half they got from Serge Ibaka. They needed the tenacious defence of P.J. Tucker, the trio of three-pointers that Cory Joseph made, and a 10-point, 10-rebound night from Jonas Valanciunas, because the Bucks were not going to go quietly.

Behind another solid Giannis Antetokounmpo night — 24 points and 15 rebounds — Milwaukee refused to buckle when the Raptors extended leads to double-digits on a handful of occasions.

And they simply ran into some bad shooting luck in the final 90 seconds when both Matthew Dellavedova and Malcolm Brogdon missed wide-open three-pointers that would have given them the lead.

“We got some great looks. The ball goes halfway down (on Brogdon’s shot) and comes out. That’s just basketball,” said Milwaukee coach Jason Kidd. “It can be nice or it can be cruel.”

Lowry and DeRozan step up in final minutes to lift Raptors – Video – TSN

While it might have been too close for comfort for the Raptors and their fans, Nik Stauskas explains how important it was for their all-stars to step up in the end, while trying to limit the Greek Freak to jumpers.

2017 Playoffs: Game 2 Recap – Raptors 106, Bucks 100 | Toronto Raptors

CLOSING OUT IN DRAMATIC FASHION

The fourth quarter was a dramatic affair as the Raptors opened on an 11-0 run behind two 3-pointers from Serge Ibaka, a layup from Cory Joseph and another 3-pointer from P.J. Tucker to build a quick 12-point lead. Similarly to the third quarter, the Raptors were unable to run away with the game as the Bucks simply refused to go away, slowly chipping at the Toronto lead until a 3-pointer from Giannis Antetokounmpo tied the game with 2:49 remaining. From there, the Bucks had multiple looks attempts from beyond the arc, but could not get their shots to fall. Toronto did not ever give up the fourth-quarter lead and secured the victory with a step-back jumper from Lowry and a pair of free throws from Patrick Patterson. Toronto shot 47 percent in the final frame, holding Milwaukee to 33 percent from the floor.

NBA Playoffs, Game 2: Lowry, DeRozan and Casey respond, Raptors beat Bucks 106-100 – Raptors HQ

Jonas Valanciunas as the second unit anchor was replaced by Serge Ibaka — a more obvious fit in that running-and-gunning, defense-focused unit headed by Lowry. Delon Wright was inserted in the second frame as a taller stand-in for Joseph; his eight minutes were infinitely more important than his zero points might suggest. Wright, with his herky-jerky, drive-and-kick game, blended seamlessly into the Raptors’ side-to-side attack.

Most significantly, Casey unleashed the Ibaka, P.J. Tucker and Patrick Patterson front court that played a grand total of one minute together in Game 1. Apart from a 51-second breather for Ibaka (who was terrific in the second half once his wobbly ankle warmed up), the trio closed the final seven-plus minutes of the game.

Casey’s rotation alterations stand a good chance of sticking this time.

Not to be forgotten was DeMar DeRozan. His Game 1 showing wasn’t quite the lightning rod that Lowry and Casey’s were, but he was visibly bothered by Milwaukee’s trapping in the second-half on Saturday. Like Lowry, DeRozan mastered the Bucks’ puzzle in Game 2.

“He did a really good job of stretching out the trap,” said Casey. We did a good job of getting it to the weak side … We shot 48% from three and that’ll loosen up those traps when you get that.”

NBA Playoffs Final Score: Bucks’ Late Surge Falls Just Short in Game 2, 106-100 – Brew Hoop

Toronto played off Giannis plenty tonight, daring him to shoot. Rarely was he able to find a modicum of space in the entrenched paint, and it oftentimes took one of those VICIOUS screens or his man getting lost in traffic to free up enough space for the lane. He got a few feeds as the roll man tonight, but for the most part, Toronto was asking him to shoot jumpers, and he obliged until taking it to the post in the final quarter. With Toronto’s considerably better shooting tonight too, there were less opportunities to push off the miss. As such, his game looked a little neutered compared to game one, but the fact he didn’t stop shooting or probing the Raptors’ interior was an encouraging sign.

DeRozan: “We gotta clean it up” – Video – TSN

DeMar DeRozan was very pleased that the Raptors were able to even up the series, but knows they still made some mistakes and can clean things up with the series shifting to Milwaukee.

Raptors minimize Antetokounmpo, win Game 2 vs. Bucks | Toronto Sun

Offensively the Raptors moved the basketball much better than they did in the first game and shared the scoring equally, led by 23 from DeMar DeRozan and 22 from Kyle Lowry.

As important as the Raptors getting Antetokounmpo under some semblance of control was Lowry starting to look a lot more like the Lowry the Raptors’ faithful became accustomed to in the regular season.

He was not himself in Game 1, a non-factor for almost all of the game but that came to an end in Game 2.

Lowry aggressively attacked the basket the entire first half, getting to the line seven times and converting all seven free throws. He ended the half with a then game-high 17 on his way to those 22 points, none bigger than the pull-up jumper he hit with 8.9 seconds and the Raptors up two to basically put the game away.

There were plenty of doubters for Lowry to feed off between the two games, but his coach correctly predicted before the game that his all-star point guard would respond with a big game and he wasn’t disappointed.

“It’s just his competitive edge,” Casey said of knowing Lowry would come up big. “Being with him over these years I have seen him in the trenches before and he has always bounced back. That’s just the way he is. He’s a competitor. He’s a fighter and I just knew he wouldn’t be satisfied the way he played the first game.”

Lowry downplayed the turnaround.

“I just played. I went out there and took my shots, be aggressive like my teammates challenged me to be and I got to the free throw line nine times,” he said.

Raptors’ depth pays dividends in Game 2 win over Bucks – Sportsnet.ca

With Lowry and DeRozan drawing plenty of double teams in the first half, Joseph emerged as a secondary scoring threat, especially from beyond the arc. He hit a three on his first offensive possession, after DeRozan forced the ball through a trap to Tucker, who found Joseph unguarded in the corner.

Joseph hit two more in the first half, including one in the second quarter that should have come with a foul as he was bumped by Brogdon with no call. The Raptors guard worked diligently on his three-point shot last summer and continued to fine tune it throughout the season. Tuesday night he got to show off all his hard work.

“They’re keying in on Kyle and DeMar. So, we hit a couple shots when they found us,” Joseph said. “If I’m open, no hesitation. I’m just going to let it fly. They’ve been doubling off me. So, today I got to let a couple go.”

Third-string guard Delon Wright played an important role in Tuesday’s game as well, logging 8 1/2 minutes in the second quarter. It was a bit of a surprise to see him walk to the scorer’s table so early in the game. But Casey had told Wright beforehand to expect some run.

“It was the plan coming in,” Casey said. “I thought that he could come in and create. And he did a heck of a job.”

Weak, crazy, strange: Raptors win over Bucks anything but routine | Toronto Sun

“We had an opportunity,” Bucks’ coach Jason Kidd said.

They were close enough to be able to go home with a 2-0 lead. There is a game in every playoff series that a team ends up regretting. This could be Milwaukee’s regret.

It was there for them and then it wasn’t. If this went to the scorecards in boxing, it would not have been a unanimous decision.

This wasn’t magic: Now you see one team, now you don’t.

And it starts again on Thursday night. All tied up. The Raptors still trying to figure out who they are and how they play and what they must do to be playoff bright. They have to punch a little more, counter-punch a little less, be more sound. They need to find their playoff legs.

Kidd described the game almost perfectly: “It can be nice and it can be cruel.”

And there was no way of knowing which of those it was going to be until the Raptors had a win.

“Tonight, Toronto was desperate,” Kidd said. He meant the basketball team.

He might have been referring to the city as well.

Toronto Raptors Get Much-Needed Game 2 Victory Over Milwaukee – Sir Charles in Charge

DeRozan and Lowry combined for 45 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. Overall, the team shot 48 percent from the field AND three-point range. Toronto’s hot shooting coupled with holding Giannis Antetokounmpo to 9-24 shooting from the field (he finished with 24 points, still) helped make way for a Raptors rebound in Game 2.

Serge Ibaka, who hit four huge three-pointers, added 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the Raptors’ win. Cory Joseph logged 11 off the bench.

As the series shifts to Milwaukee for Games 3 and 4, the questions still exist – can we finally (fully) trust the Toronto Raptors?

Kyle Lowry shows up, drills dagger to hold off Bucks for Game 2 win – Yahoo

“It was a broken play,” Lowry said with a laugh during a post-game interview with NBA TV’s Jen Hale. “DeMar [DeRozan] had two guys on him, kicked back to Serge [Ibaka]. Serge got me the ball, and I just wanted to get to my spot. I got to my spot, and shot the ball and made it.”

Lowry’s super-tough bucket gave Toronto a four-point lead that it would not relinquish, as the Raptors hung on for a 106-100 win that evened their best-of-seven first-round playoff series with the sixth-seeded Bucks at 1-1. Game 3 will tip off at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday in Milwaukee.

How much will Serge ibaka command as a free agent – RealGM

More than Ryno, less than Horford. 4/$100 is about my guess.

Raptors will select 23rd in the 2017 NBA Draft – Raptors HQ

The Clippers got the 23rd pick, the Raptors were 25th, but due to the aforementioned deals, the Raptors get 23rd and the Magic get 25th. Don’t ask me to explain this again — my head hurts.

Raptors, Bucks both winners at NBA draft lottery tiebreaker – Sportsnet.ca

The Clippers won the tiebreak to select 23rd overall, but that pick actually belongs to the Raptors as part of the Greivis Vasquez trade. The Raps also own the 25th overall pick, but will send the pick to Orlando as part of the Terrence Ross deal. So, to sum it up, the Raptors will draft 23rd this season. Louisville shooting guard Donovan Mitchell is DraftExpress’s 23rd-ranked player.

Did I miss anything? Send me any Raptors-related article/video/social to rapsfan@raptorsrepublic.com

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