Raptors make franchise history, advance to East semis with win over Bucks
For the first time in franchise history, the Toronto Raptors won a series in fewer than the maximum games necessary.
The Raptors squandered a 25-point lead, but made a couple of big plays down the stretch to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks 92-89 in Game 6 in Milwaukee on Thursday and advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals for the second consecutive season.
If the Raptors want to advance to the conference finals, as they did last season, they will need to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, who eliminated Toronto 4-2 a year ago.
Game 1 of Raptors-Cavaliers is Monday (7 p.m. ET on TNT) in Cleveland, and while finishing the series in six games gives the Raptors a few days off, the Cavs and LeBron James will have had seven full days off by the tip-off of the series opener.
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In Toronto’s three previous series victories, they went the distance – five games against the New York Knicks in 2001 and seven games against the Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat last season.
They didn’t need a seventh game against the Bucks, who took a 2-1 series lead and then lost the final three games of the series. Toronto improved to 2-5 in Game 6s and won a Game 6 on the road for the first time in franchise history.
Toronto didn’t make it easy on itself. It built a 71-46 with 5:17 left in the third quarter but wasted that advantage. The Bucks went on a 34-7 run and led 80-78 with 3:06 left in the fourth.
The furious effort appeared to sap the energy of the young Bucks. Even star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, a renowned gym rat, looked tired with his hands on hips as he caught his breath during fourth-quarter breaks. He played 47 minutes and finished 13-of-23 from the field (for 34 points) but was 2-of-6 in the fourth.
"You know you're going to be tired, it's the playoffs. I just was thinking in my mind 'Do whatever it takes,'" Antetokounmpo said. "I told my teammates to just fight through it. It was not just me. Everybody was tired."
Raptors guard Cory Joseph had five points in a 9-0 run in the final two minutes, including a three-pointer with 1:27 left, to help stave off the pesky Bucks.
"We lost our composure a little bit," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "Again, we found a way to (hold on). That's what good teams do."
Casey made a key lineup change in Game 4, inserting second-year guard Norman Powell into the starting lineup in place of big man Jonas Valanciunas. Powell averaged 15 points and made all nine of his three-point attempts as a starter against Milwaukee.
The Raptors' three straight wins to close out the series were also fueled by All-Star guards DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry, who had better performances in the final three games of the series than they did in the first three. DeRozan had 32 points and five steals in Game 6, while Lowry had 13 points (on 5-of-9 shooting), four rebounds, four assists and two steals.
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Contributing: Associated Press