Toronto Raptors vs Milwaukee Bucks Pick & Prediction, Sat Jan 15 06:30 PM
Elijah Davis
Giannis Antetokounmpo looks to continue his latest stretch of offensive dominance as the Milwaukee Bucks host the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night.
The two-time MVP has been on a roll since Christmas, averaging 32.6 points, 11.1 rebounds and 7.1 assists over his last nine games. In those nine games, he has also scored at least 30 points seven times.
Milwaukee is coming off a 118-99 rout of the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night, and Antetokounmpo paced the Bucks with 30 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists on 11-of-17 shooting to record his third triple-double this season.
Khris Middleton added 23 points, Bobby Portis chipped in 20 and Grayson Allen finished with 15 to help the Bucks snap a brief two-game losing streak.
"At the end of the day, you get to a position that you've seen pretty much everything (defensively)," Antetokounmpo said. "But my mindset always is try to be aggressive, try to get downhill."
The Bucks will be without Jrue Holiday on Saturday, who has missed the last four games with an ankle injury. Brook Lopez also remains sidelined as he continues to recover from back surgery, and Langston Galloway will be out due to health and safety protocol.
After shooting below 45 percent in a pair of losses against the Hornets, Milwaukee was much more efficient against Golden State, going 44-for-86 (51.2 percent) from the field while making 18 of 41 (43.9 percent) 3-pointers.
Following a six-game win streak, Toronto has now dropped back-to-back games after losing 103-87 to the Detroit Pistons on Friday.
Fred VanVleet led the Raptors with 24 points, five rebounds and 10 assists. Pascal Siakam contributed 23 points and 11 rebounds on 8-of-17 shooting, and OG Anunoby tallied 16 points. Chris Boucher added 10 points and six rebounds off the bench.
The game took a turn for the worst early on, as Khem Birch suffered a broken nose early in the first quarter, forcing him to exit the game.
"It probably took us out of some offensive sync and flow a little bit," Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said. "Obviously we were really kind of stuck movement-wise offensively, probably could have helped there, but it's part of the game and we got to move on and respond to it a little better than we did tonight."
In addition to Birch, Gary Trent Jr. could miss Saturday's contest due to an ankle injury, and Goran Dragic remains out indefinitely for personal reasons.
On the bright side, VanVleet has been playing some of his best basketball of the season in the month of January. The 6-foot-1 guard has scored at least 30 points in four of seven games this month and notched a triple-double back on Jan. 7.
With a win, the Raptors could improve to above .500 on the road this season (currently 8-8). Toronto has struggled away from home as of late, winning just one of their last five road games.
The Raptors have had their fair share of success against Milwaukee, taking the first two games of the three-game season series. Both games were close, as Toronto holds an average winning margin of just five points per contest.
--Field Level Media
Toronto vs. Milwaukee Recap FEB 18TH 2021
Chris Boucher had a career-best 25 points to go with 11 rebounds and the Toronto Raptors defeated the Milwaukee Bucks for the first time this season, 114-106 Monday night near Orlando as both teams played without key players.
Matt Thomas added a career-best 22 points for the Raptors and Norman Powell had 21 points and eight rebounds.
The Bucks had won the first two games between the teams this season.
Pascal Siakam added 14 points for Toronto, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had 11 and Terence Davis scored 10 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
Kyle Korver scored 19 points for Milwaukee, Khris Middleton had 17, George Hill netted 14, Brook Lopez and Pat Connaughton scored 12 apiece and Eric Bledsoe added 11.
Connaughton left for the dressing room after falling to the court and bumping his head with 9:51 in the fourth quarter.
Giannis Antetokounmpo (dental surgery) was on the sidelines for Milwaukee.
Kyle Lowry (lower back), Serge Ibaka (right knee) and Fred VanVleet (right knee) were out of the Toronto lineup.
The Bucks already had clinched the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and the Raptors had clinched the No. 2 seed.
The Raptors took a 13-point into the fourth quarter and stretched it to 22 with 9:39 to play after an 11-0 run. Milwaukee cut the lead to 10 with six minutes to play after a 10-0 run. Bledsoe's layup cut the lead to six with 54 seconds left.
The Raptors led 36-31 after the first quarter.
Toronto scored the first five points of the second quarter. The lead reached 13 on a tip layup by Davis with 3:05 left in the half.
Siakam completed the first half scoring with a 3-pointer and Toronto led 67-53.
Powell and Thomas each had 15 first-half points for the Raptors.
Korver scored 14 for Milwaukee in the first half.
The Raptors increased their lead to 15 early in the third quarter. Milwaukee crept to within seven, but the Raptors led by 15 again on a pullup jumper by Thomas with 2:29 to play in the quarter.
Toronto led 88-75 after three quarters.
--Field Level Media
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