Tested again, resilient Raptors rest up for Cavs rematch

P.J. Tucker saw a new side of the Toronto Raptors in Game 6 and he’s excited about what it can mean heading into a Round 2 series with the defending National Basketball Association champion Cleveland Cavaliers. It might be too much to ask for Powell to rescue the Raptors again against the Cavs, but Toronto’s two mid-season acquisitions could emerge as keys in this series. Game Six against the Raptors was a microcosm of their season as a whole. Toronto took a physical, tiring first-round series in six games. To that point, Toronto had shot 51.0% from the field and 53.3% from long range (8-for-15), while holding the Bucks to a meagre split of 37.5% and 10.0% (1-for-10), respectively. The Pacers almost erased double-digits deficits in three of the four games and missed a shot at the buzzer to win Game 1, which might have changed everything. “We were just discombobulated”. DeRozan is having a career year and it’s carried over into the playoffs.

Toronto won nine more games than the Bucks. “So it’s great to be able to go our bench and have a guy like P.J. Tucker. pretty sure we are going to use that weapon”. While the Raptors defeated the Bucks 4-2, the Cavaliers swept the Indiana Pacers in the first round and have been waiting for their next opponent. Irving averaged 24.7 points and 5.7 assists, and Love 21.7 points and 12.3 rebounds.

“Winning in Cleveland is hard”.

DeMar DeRozan scored 32 points as the Raptors held on to beat the Bucks 92-89, but not before watching their 25-point lead vanish in a fierce Milwaukee comeback.

The Toronto Raptors Game 6 versus the Milwaukee Bucks appeared as though it was going to be an easy win, but of course that’s never the case no matter how big your lead is.

From the midway point of the third quarter to about the final three-minute mark of the game, the Raptors were on their heels.

“One thing I do like is Memphis is a heck of a defensive team and they play rock ’em, sock ’em”. Both players signed deals with the Bucks last summer but had underwhelming seasons. We saw Antetokounmpo at that point Thursday, though he did his best to prove he’s nearly not human, and it was genuinely inspiring. He swapped Norman Powell for Jonas Valanciunas and the rest is history. Antetokounmpo, who played 47 minutes – 98 percent of the game’s total – digging deep to go to another level, a superstar level, driving relentlessly into the paint, finding open teammates and repeatedly getting to the line. A big factor in this series will be whether Toronto’s improved offense can avoid a repeat of those shooting numbers this year. Kyle Lowry added 13 points for the Raptors, who shot 45.7 percent. His clutch 3-pointer with 4:05 left got Milwaukee to within 78-77. That won’t be good enough vs. Cleveland. DeRozan was 7 of 13 for a game-high 16 points in the first half. Lowry put up 20.5 points and 6.5 assists in four. The Grizzlies then extended their lead to six with 7:11 remaining and at that point Leonard scored eight straight points for the Spurs.

The Bucks outscored the Raptors 28-18 in the fourth quarter, but they didn’t do the little things to pull out a win.

Lowry’s been an Eastern Conference All-Star in each of the last three seasons and he’s had some monster games against the Cavaliers over the years – including a 43-point game in last year’s regular season and a pair of 35-point outings in last year’s East Finals.

James dominates any conversation about the Cavs, and for good reason. The Raptors entered this postseason as the No. 3 seed and marginal threat to the Cavaliers’ march back to the finals.

The 22-year-old finished the series averaging 40.5 minutes per game and was so clearly gassed by the end of Game 6.