7 threes went up, and 7 threes went down. 3 for the Bucks and 4 for the Raptors. There was hot shooting to kick things off. The Raptors were also using Immanuel Quickley less often as the bring up ball handler early as well, in an attempt to use his gravity more off ball – and it resulted in bigger gaps for shooters at the front and back end of plays. That inversion of space, and the Bucks overloading towards ball handlers allowed the Raptors to jump out to a 24-15 lead on the strength of hitting open looks.
The Bucks climbed back quickly after Scottie Barnes & Jakob Poeltl were subbed out for Collin Murray-Boyles & Sandro Mamukelashvili – who Giannis Antetokounmpo quickly made a meal of with post seals (4 points and 1 foul in 2 possessions) and Coach Darko called for timeout. It’s hard for a rookie to front and guard an MVP without backline help. Even when they started doubling on the catch after the timeout, it didn’t work. It was a very fast, 9-0 run for the Bucks that brought them all the way back.
To close out the quarter — Antetokounmpo had a lengthy rest — the Raptors went with a small lineup of Ja’Kobe Walter, Immanuel Quickley, Gradey Dick, Scottie Barnes, Mamu to keep poking holes in the Bucks zone. Not too bad, not too good offensively, but the Raptors actually managed to plug the holes on defense throughout that stretch. No Antetokounmpo helps, of course, but Barnes was particularly good guarding in that stretch. His court coverage made the Bucks redefine the types of passes they were able to make. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t highlight that Jamal Shead had a really positive run of play in the middle of the opening frame. All this, and the Raptors took a 39-29 lead into the second quarter.
Quickley had a nice run of creation to kick off the second quarter, maybe his best of the season thus far. He was touching the paint frequently, refusing to give up his dribble, and giving a real pop of scoring while still managing to create for others. A really great stretch for him, and one that kept the Raptors up by double-digits halfway through the second.
Then, Barnes came in. When I tell you, Barnes was absolutely sublime on that end. I’m not sure I have the words. He was tracking everything down, making a play on, seemingly, every available ball; he was instrumental in stonewalling Antetokounmpo in general, but also specifically pinning a layup off the glass and a strip in the thick of the paint. A physical star, meeting the moment against a physical mega star. Mixed in with all this was, as per usual, the slick offensive operator: Ingram. Slithering to spots, making difficult jumpers, always present to save a possession. He came into this game scoring 22 a game on 64% true shooting, and he had no difficulty keeping up his streak of efficiency, putting up 9 points and 3 assists on 6 shots. Although, Barrett was the leader offensively and did so largely with his 3-point shot as he canned 3 of his 6 attempts and scored 15 points to lead the Raptors. They went sprinting into halftime up 73-54.
Of note: Barnes left late in the first half with an apparent hand injury. He returned to play the second half, but received X-rays and was diagnosed with a left thumb sprain.
The second half, or at least the start of it, was an exhibition in how much Antetokounmpo could do to carry the Bucks. Scoring over quadruple teams for and-1’s, pushing early for pseudo-transition buckets, and rampaging around in general. Straight trucking dudes. Enough trucking to pull the lead back a little bit to 13 points. It was a lot of work. Herculean labors type work. And the Bucks star did start to tire. When his tank ran a little bit low, the Raptors found room to spread their legs and crack back on a run of their own. The Raptors provided piecemeal contributions around their stars in that stretch. A couple free throws for both Shead and Dick. A hard charging rim run from Barrett. A svelte middy from Ingram. All of it to snap off an 8-0 run, and even after that keep building the lead. Mostly bench guys putting in work — maybe Mamu most of all — sharing the ball, attacking advantages, and scoring against a tired Bucks team. They took a 25-point lead into the fourth quarter.
No problems arose as the Raptors ran their rag-tag bench back out to start the fourth quarter. It was a pretty sloppy offensive affair, as they scored 1 point across nearly 4 minutes of basketball, but they only allowed 2. They were rotating hard on the Bucks, forcing the ball out to shooters, and the Bucks were not accurate. The Raptors response when in need of buckets? An empty-side pin-down for Barrett and Poeltl where the former made a great pocked pass to the latter for a layup. Also, Barrett hit his fourth triple of the night to beat the shot clock buzzer a couple possessions later. Ever the scorer, Barrett had already tallied 23 points on 12 shots halfway through the fourth. Really had his pulse on the offense, and has nearly every game this season. Shortly afterwards, Barnes would get a run out in transition for an and-1 finish to put him at 23 points as well.
Just to take a moment and acknowledge it on wax, Barnes had an incredibly strong performance in this one. Not only did he keep grinding away on offense, even while being used as a jump shooter for the health of it, but he was the heartbeat of a Raptors defense that put together it’s best performance yet this season. He was effective trying to blanket Antetokounmpo, and hyper-active away from him. He blew up plays, deterred others from progressing the way the Bucks wanted, and collected 6 stocks (4 steals, 2 blocks) on his way to pacing the Raptors perfectly on the less glamorous end of the floor. A tremendous game from the Raptors star.
We saw the benches emptied with 4 minutes to go in this one. A lot of garbage time, and well earned by the Raptors. They shellacked the Bucks.
Now at 4-4 on the season and repping a tidy little 3-game winning streak, the Raptors have the Hawks to grapple with in the pursuit of above .500 hoops. I’ve been waiting for these type of prove it games. Glad to see them. Hope to see a lot more.
Have a blessed day.
