Raptors lose the thread on defense, and lose to the Bucks
There was a lot of excitement in the air around Scotiabank Arena. Maybe the most since I’ve started covering the team in person — while some of it is due to the World Series being hosted simultaneously and the fact that, that excitement bleeds into everything — and it’s because the Raptors were coming in undefeated (1-0 lol) and showing off their new star, Brandon Ingram, in regular season play for the first time as a Raptor.
Ingram scored the first bucket of the game, and did so while wriggling to a middy off of an Iverson Cut (I actually highlighted this exact play in my video breaking down the Raptors offense), the kind of stuff a star scorer is supposed to provide. Scottie Barnes also hit a nice pull up middy, and RJ Barrett hit yet another catch-and-shoot triple from above the break – something he’s been quite adroit at since turning Raptor.
Still though, the largest consideration with the Bucks is their frontcourt, and the player residing at power forward: Giannis Antetokounmpo – who received a nice smattering of applause when he was introduced for the game. His downhill momentum was a thorn in the Raptors side from the outset, of course. Doc Rivers was asked before the game, by Michael Grange, about how Antetokounmpo continues to prioritize driving the basketball and he suggested that Antetokounmpo himself has an innate drive for that playstyle. Also noting it doesn’t hurt that he’s an all time driver either.
The offensive recipe for the Raptors was pretty clear early: use the point guards. The Bucks don’t rep a great backcourt, and Quickley was gunning to try and display that as a weakness. Through the first 9 minutes of the game, the point guards (Shead included) had taken 8 of the Raptors first 15 shots but only supplied 6 points out of them. On the other side, Antetokounmpo had taken the bulk of the looks for the Bucks, but was shooting perfectly while doubling the output of the Raptors point guards. The Raptors were having trouble navigating the hulking bodies roaming in the Bucks paint. Guys like AJ Green and Cole Anthony were getting to tee off from downtown, but the Raptors primaries were having trouble creating similar types of looks for their tertiary guys – they were receiving grenades, more like. They were down by 8, 27-19 after the first quarter.
The Raptors did well to pick up their pace, or inject it forcibly perhaps, at the start of the second quarter. They weren’t outfoxing their halfcourt struggles, but they were outrunning them. A hit ahead for Barnes. A couple guile-y drives from Barrett to reach paydirt. Good stuff. They even ran a nice little pick n’ roll between Quickley and Ingram where the latter rolled to the cup for a contested layup. They were sending bodies up floor in a hurry, and it eventually led to a collapsed paint, a scramble play, and Ingram cashing a triple as the trail man to take the lead 35-33. A great stretch, and a needed one, with Antetokounmpo off the floor. It even continued once the Bucks star touched hardwood again, as the Raptors kept flinging hit aheads, kept filling the corners, and pushed the lead to 7. They also had some success blitzing Antetokounmpo on defense.
Barnes also made time for some bully ball:
Barnes was tremendous in general during the second quarter. He was tremendously physical without ever losing his composure. Not in an angry sense, but more so that he was still reading the floor very well while mashing and bashing around. In between the Barnes Bashing and the Ingram isos that the Raptors started hunting, they still remained irksome. Totally bothersome. Ever the pests. As annoying and fast paced as they played though, the Bucks were still better at creating advantages. It could be as simple as Antetokounmpo touch, pass out, open triple. Now, it’s not ideal that the Raptors rotations were as weak defensively to allow that at times, but that is what happened. The Bucks guards also weren’t too bad at driving closeouts and playmaking off the bounce.
The Raptors were still up at the half, by 2, but it was largely because they managed to play roughly a third of their possessions out in transition – with most of those possessions coming after a rebound. A real credit to their playstyle and ability to advance the ball up court no matter who grabbed the board, no matter who is leaking out. That’s the benefit of pace and playstyle.
Halfway through the third quarter the Raptors found themselves down by 1. Largely, I think, because of the disparity in the three ball. Not only were the Raptors less capable of creating easy looks, but too often were the Raptors completely out of place to x-out to shooters after sending doubles at Antetokounmpo. For as much as they have pressure and effort in some ways, this was a repeated error based on lack of attention and effort.
Luckily, Ingram was keeping the Raptors even with the Bucks through his myriad mid-range scoring. Slithering to his spot, rising up, making it count. The halfcourt savior that they’d been looking for. He had 25 points by the 4 minute mark of the third quarter, and was by far the biggest factor in why they were leading by 1. The Raps scraped and clawed with the Bucks until the close of the quarter and came out tied thanks to a corner triple from Barnes, created by Barrett, that swirled on the rim and bounced up and down on it before dropping in. It was 86-86. 12 minutes until the death.
Quickley was great to start the fourth quarter and allowed the Raptors to sprint out to a 5 point lead. Yes, he had two separate and-1 finishes, but he was also the best Raptor in rotation defensively – he put out quite a few fires. Battle also got a look as a ball pressure defender on Anthony, which didn’t go too well, but he canned a corner triple after Poeltl located him from the paint. The Bucks were still leading by 4 after the first 5 minutes of the fourth quarter, though.
This team needs contributions from everywhere. They will all season.
The Raptors tied the game up with 5:45 left to go, and did so on an and-1 from Barrett. Over Gary Trent Jr., no less. Sunrise. Sunset. Oh, the passage of time. I was hoping the passage of the next 5 minutes would be kind to the Raptors. Barrett, who had scored 19 points on 9/12 shooting, was quietly guiding them through murky waters.
It was a really sloppy run of play from the Raptors, and a run spearheaded by Quickley who left a handful of points on the rim and at the free throw line. He did well to wiggle middle and to extend plays, but the finishes weren’t there. Meanwhile, the Bucks were enjoying shot making from Anthony and Trent Jr. to extend the lead. It wasn’t even necessarily that the Bucks were getting better shots, they weren’t, they were just far better at hitting them. Barnes and Poeltl both had great looks in the paint and turned it into a turnover. It was a mess. Even when Ingram came back to bang a triple, it was immediately followed up by Anthony slicing middle and finding Trent Jr. for a corner triple.
Also, despite the lack of shot making late, the Raptors lost this game on the defensive end. They trended up on offense the longer the game went on, particularly in the halfcourt, but they were terrible at keeping tabs on the Bucks’ guards. Does it hurt to shoot 13/30 from the short mid-range? Sure, you want that to be better, and you also want less volume from there. What you really can’t have though, is the late addition to Bucks roster, on a minimum contract, Anthony, gaming you like he were Chris Paul. By the end it wasn’t even a consequence of the attention paid to Antetokounmpo. The Raptors were completely lost on guarding guards and ball screens.
They lost, anyway. On to the next one. We move.
Have a blessed day.
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