Raptors fall to Bucks in home opener
After dominating the Atlanta Hawks in their season opener, the Toronto Raptors were riding high coming into their home opener matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks. Last game we saw the offense operating at an extremely high level, and we also saw them execute their defense at a high level as well. While the offensive output was more in line with what we saw against Atlanta, the defensive execution was much poorer against Milwaukee.
When you face the Milwaukee Bucks, you are expecting Giannis Antetokounmpo to be a headache for you on defense. The former MVP is one of the hardest players to guard in the league, and with his brand of physicality and finishing he was making his mark on this game very early on. The biggest change in Milwaukee this year is they now have a lack of scoring/creation from their backcourt, a notion about them which they challenged tonight. Giving up 31 points, 20 rebounds, and 7 assists to Antetokounmpo is a somewhat forgivable offense, but to allow Gary Trent Jr to pour in 20 points, and Cole Anthony to put in 23 points and 7 assists off the bench is inexcusable.
Offensively, Brandon Ingram had a masterful performance, putting up an efficient 29 points. Iverson cut into a mid-range pull-up jumper, slipping a screen and diving to the rim for a layup, curling off of pin down screens for layups, and just all-around mid-range mastery. Ingram scored in many different ways last night, and it was his offense in part that kept Toronto within striking distance throughout this game. Ingram’s three-point shooting has come with no hesitancy this year, something that was encouraged by Darko Rajakovic.
Toronto found themselves struggling against Antetokounmpo’s physicality at the rim, and even when they sent multiple bodies to contain his drives, he would still find a way to get the shot up and in. But again, Toronto was able to match Milwaukee’s firepower headed down the stretch of this game. RJ Barrett found plenty of success in the paint against Milwaukee. He had a few nice plays in transition for easy looks, but in the halfcourt it felt like he would never miss a floater. He bumped and battered his way to the paint, created just enough separation to get the shot off, and repeated this process many times en route to 20 points.
Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley were less efficient than their peers in the starting lineup, but Barnes was still making timely plays on defense, and Quickley was doing a nice job pushing the pace, which he has become known for. You could feel Barnes’ physicality in this game, especially after he bumped Antetokounmpo to the ground for a rim look and then flexed in his face.
Headed into the fourth quarter things were all knotted up, and this game was there for the taking. This is where Anthony of all people, was instrumental in closing the Toronto Raptors out. In the fourth quarter, Anthony scored 9 of his 23 points, and plenty of these shots came within the closing minutes of the quarter. To combat Antetokounmpo’s driving, Jakob Poeltl came to the level of the screen Myles Turner had set for him in order to trap Antetokounmpo. In doing this, Poeltl couldn’t be at the rim to provide backline help, so when the ball was swung to Anthony in the corner, he blew past the shotty closeout of Immanuel Quickley and was able to finish with a reverse layup, just past the outstretched arms of Barnes.
With Milwaukee having a three point lead with under 2:30 on the clock, Anthony runs a pick and pop with Turner. Turner sets the screen and then flashes to the top of the key, which prompts Quickley to run to cover him, and leaves Poeltl alone with Anthony in space. Anthony pulls out a sharp in and out dribble and frees himself up for a 15 footer to extend Milwaukee’s lead to five.
With under 1:15 on the clock and Milwaukee being up 115-111, Anthony gets another screen set for him, and this time Ingram gives him an angle to the basket, and with Poeltl out of the paint again, Anthony was able to extend the lead to 6 with a reverse layup around Barrett’s contest.
While Anthony is a talented NBA player, the defense against him down the stretch was horrendous, and a player of his caliber should not be closing you out in this manner.
It’s still early in the season, there is plenty to learn, but if Toronto wants to make it to the next level they can’t fall apart in this manner defensively, especially down the stretch. Next up is a trip to Dallas to face off against Cooper Flagg, Anthony Davis, and the Mavericks.
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