Toronto absolutely crushes Milwaukee in the second half in a team effort. Grades are coming soon!
 | Toronto | 129 | Final Box Score | 110 | Milwaukee |  |
 A | S. Ibaka29 MIN, 21 PTS, 5 REB, 0 AST, 2 STL, 8-12 FG, 1-5 3FG, 4-4 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, 35 +/- 17 first half points for Serge, plus a solid effort on the glass and on defence. He hit some necessary early shots to occupy a Milwaukee defence that was feeling aggressive. | |
 B | O. Anunoby31 MIN, 5 PTS, 0 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 2-6 FG, 1-5 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, 16 +/- Tasked with guarding Giannis and Bledsoe. Showed his age by leaving his feet, but also did a good job of keeping guys in front of him and making them jump shooters. | |
 A+ | J. Valanciunas17 MIN, 20 PTS, 13 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 8-9 FG, 0-0 3FG, 4-5 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 26 +/- Jonas picked up two quick fouls and was forced to sit early. You wouldn’t know that from his line. JV’s third quarter has to be top three of his career, scoring 20 points with nine rebounds. He was throwing people aside in the paint, sliding perfectly into help, bothering shots at the rim, setting solid screens, yelling and-one … it was dominance. A quarter to remember. | |
 B+ | K. Lowry27 MIN, 15 PTS, 6 REB, 4 AST, 2 STL, 5-10 FG, 4-8 3FG, 1-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 20 +/- Balanced Lowry performance with some frisky passing and jump shots. Gave up some blow bys to Bledsoe throughout the game. | |
 A | D. DeRozan29 MIN, 20 PTS, 5 REB, 4 AST, 2 STL, 7-12 FG, 1-3 3FG, 5-7 FT, 1 BLK, 3 TO, 34 +/- Quiet first half before an explosive third quarter. I don’t know if DeRozan feels a rivalry with Khris Middleton, but he hit a three right in Middleton’s face that felt like it was worth more than just points on the scoreboard. Even had some standout defensive moments too. | |
 A- | D. Wright20 MIN, 12 PTS, 2 REB, 6 AST, 1 STL, 5-7 FG, 0-1 3FG, 2-3 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 6 +/- Normally Delon’s performance would have the fans buzzing. There were just too many other standout guys that I think Delon got lost in the mix. He’s such a weapon because teams can be in a speed wobble against the starters, but Delon comes in and has the ability to step on their throats. Such a different look for defences. | |
 B | P. Siakam18 MIN, 8 PTS, 3 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 3-4 FG, 0-1 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -11 +/- Classic Siakam performance. If he gets a corner three, he’s going to be a weapon. | |
 B- | F. VanVleet18 MIN, 10 PTS, 1 REB, 3 AST, 0 STL, 4-10 FG, 1-3 3FG, 1-1 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -15 +/- Can’t say he wasn’t aggressive, but he was taking shots that weren’t there. His mentality is understandable but the Raptors don’t need that from him. | |
 A | L. Nogueira17 MIN, 5 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 2-2 FG, 0-0 3FG, 1-1 FT, 3 BLK, 0 TO, -8 +/- Yes, this is a high grade for a so-so stat line. But Bebe deserves so much credit for coming in after JV’s fouls. He was a force at the rim on both ends. He picked apart the defence with passing. | |
 B | C. Miles17 MIN, 11 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 3-8 FG, 2-6 3FG, 3-3 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 2 +/- Raptors didn’t need much from him tonight but had was solid offensively when called upon. | |
 C+ | J. Poeltl9 MIN, 2 PTS, 3 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-2 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -3 +/- Nondescript performance. He actually did a decent job hanging with Giannis a couple times. | |
 Inc | N. Powell6 MIN, 0 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 0-4 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -7 +/- The bounce back game is still on hold. | |
 A | Dwane Casey His decision to give Bebe the early minutes to keep the rotation in tact paid dividends. Milwaukee was working Toronto, but Bebe changed the game and steadied things. He also rode the hot hand in JV during that third quarter. | |
Things We Saw
- When someone talks about a team playing with confidence, they’re talking about the Raptors in the third quarter. That was rare territory – every player knew exactly what was supposed to happen each play. Every shot went up with the expectation that points were going on the board. At risk of sounding hyperbolic, it is among the best quarters the Raptors have played in their two decade-plus history.
- As a Raptors fan, I hope the Bucks never fire Jason Kidd. As a fan of the sport, I want Jason Kidd to be fired yesterday. Their offence is unimaginative and stagnant, banking on the athleticism of Giannis and Bledsoe and pushing for easy scores in transition.
