Gameday: Raptors vs Bucks, January 15

Wellllllll, shit.

That was tough to stomach. I guess I did say in the preview that all basketball logic goes out the window when it’s Dwane Casey v. Toronto Raptors.

Don't know what to tell you if you didn't see the Pistons win coming. Casey Pistons 8-3 vs. Raps now.
— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) January 15, 2022

Of course, shooting 11/38 from 3 and having a bench outscored 46-11 and losing by 18 points in the paint and having a whopping grand total of 5 fast break points CERTAINLY does not help.

The Raptors used 12 players tonight. Outside of VanVleet, Siakam and Anunoby, the other 9 guys combined for 24 points on 9-35 FG and 1-15 3P (!!).
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) January 15, 2022

Nor did losing Khem to a nasty bop in the face.

Khem Birch broke his nose, per Nick Nurse. He's heading back to Toronto.
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) January 15, 2022

Hopefully, that was just a bad case of the Dwane Drain.

Casey, asked if familiarity w/Raps helped: "I wouldn't say that. I know the play calls, I know some tendencies, but I should know every team in the league & I feel like I do… I'm proud of the way our guys bounced back. If we had played Timbuktu it would've been the same thing."
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) January 15, 2022

Once the Raps cross state lines, it was like it was all just a bad Dweam.

The Skinny

How’s this for NBA comedy:

In the last 2 weeks, Chicago stomped Detroit (133-87) who beat Milwaukee (115-106) who crunched Golden State (118-99) who sizzled Chicago (138-96).

Detroit beat Toronto.

ERGO: Toronto beats Milwaukee.

That’s Algebra.

In case I miscalculated something there, though, I’ll just do a bit of analysis.

We’ve played Milwaukee twice this season and won both.

So…

I know, they were both without Giannis – I’ve heard ever since you know what he’s been a bit hesitant to show his face around the Raptors. Pure speculation, though.

The 1st game was a battle of All-Starriors: Freddy V and Jrue this-ain’t-no Holiday. The game felt like Freddy’s TSN Turning Point metamorphosing into an All-Star before our very eyes. Jrue was in Fred’s shorts all game and Freddy still willed his team to triumph with 29 points (26 of them in the 2nd half). While also guarding a dangeJrue Holiday:

Fred doing Jrue things to Jrue. Now it's Fred's thing. pic.twitter.com/H0EhkZHPXd
— Raptors Republic (@raptorsrepublic) January 6, 2022

Full court:

Fred is such a pest, hounding Jrue all the way up the court. Siakam with good help to deny him at the rim. pic.twitter.com/MutjTsiKFk
— Fabio Lucarini (@Fatty_Fadeaway) December 3, 2021

The 2nd go-around, Toronto showed off a bit of its offensive versatility. Fred, after threading 17 in the 1st half, scored only 2 in the 2nd. Cue: Pascal (33), Gary (22), and OG (22) to fill the void. Not too much to take away here, though, Milwaukee was extremely understaffed and Toronto still only squeaked it out.

So, this 3rd, and final, battle of the season will be a true test for Toronto. The Raps showed they can hang with the best of them letting a slim lead over the Phoenix Suns slip away in the dying seconds. Milwaukee’s longer and more athletic than Phoenix, which cuts both ways. On the one hand, Milwaukee will be better prepared for Toronto’s style of play (Freddy won’t have to deal with Jrue though, he’s out with a bum ankle). On the other, Milwaukee – other than Giannis’ inherent advantage over every human being in the world – has lesser points of exploitation. Blitzing and pinching is the name of the game for Toronto and one of the, kinda, ways to slow Giannis.

Milwaukee is a better transition team than Toronto, offensively and defensively. That’s particularly troubling seeing as Milwaukee’s a much better half-court team at both ends too. Of note, Milwaukee gives up a lot of three-point shots – especially from the corners – without teams hitting at a high rate (that’s always a debate of luck vs defence when it comes to 3-point variance), which bodes less well for Toronto who’s not been so prolific behind the 3 of late – against the Suns only OG and Freddy hit a 3 in the entire game. (Though, Toronto does do quite well from corner 3 specifically.) Conversely, Milwaukee takes a tonne of 3s and hits a lot of them; also troubling for a Toronto team at the bottom of the league in opponent 3-point percentage.

Detroit beat Milwaukee by shooting 42% from 3 and hitting 18 of them to Milwaukee’s 11. The Bucks pulverized Golden State by doing basically the same thing. Toronto’s probably going to need to get hot to keep the Bucks at bay – here’s looking at you BENCH. Judging by last night’s performance behind the arc, good luck to us.

An aside: I’ve always freaking loved Bobby Portis and am happy that he’s found a home and excelling.

I've always said Bobby P reminds me so much of KG (style of play + intensity). He just point-forwarded his way into the post fadeaway jumper in the middle of the paint. Classic Big Ticket.
— The Gentle Watch (@AdonMoss) January 14, 2022

The aforementioned play happens at the 26-second mark:

20 piece for Bobby tonight ft. a buzzer-beater & a shimmy.
20 PTS | 7 REB | 4-7 3PM pic.twitter.com/14DRnzaROa
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) January 14, 2022

This was a hilarious buzzer-beater boogie celly at halftime against Golden State:

🚨 BOBBY PORTIS TO END THE HALF
The Bucks (-112 ML) are up 77-38 on the Warriors 😳 😳 pic.twitter.com/IoQ7nk0P9L
— NBABet (@nbabet) January 14, 2022

Game Info

Tip-off: 7:00 pm EST | TV: TSN3, TSN4, BSWI, TSN | Radio: Sportsnet 590

Toronto Raptors Results, Lineups & Injuries

Previous Results

@ Pistons L 103-87

vs Suns L 99-95

vs Pelicans W 105-101

vs Jazz W 122-108

@ Bucks W 117-111

Probable Lineup

PF: P. Siakam, C. Boucher

SF: O. Anunoby, Y. Watanabe

C: P. Achiuwa

PG: F. VanVleet, D. Banton

SG: J. Champagnie, S. Mykhailiuk

Injuries

Scottie Barnes, SF – Out

Gary Trent Jr., SG – Out moreTrent (ankle) is questionable for Saturday’s game against the Bucks, Blake Murphy of The Athletic reports.

Khem Birch, C – Out moreBirch will require surgery to repair his broken nose, Blake Murphy of The Athletic reports.

Goran Dragic, PG – Out moreDragic (personal) remained away from the team during Sunday’s 144-99 loss to the Cavaliers and is without a timeline to rejoin the Raptors, Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun reports.