Down for most of the game and clearly rusty at times after nearly a full week off, the Milwaukee Bucks looked very much like a team in trouble — until the fourth quarter.
The team with the NBA’s best record this season found their stride at the perfect time.
Brook Lopez on Wednesday scored 13 of his career playoff-high 29 points in the fourth quarter and Giannis Antetokounmpo added 24 points as the Bucks closed the game on a 10-0 run to beat the Toronto Raptors 108-100 in Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference final series.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Milwaukee forced Toronto to miss their final eight shots and outscored the Raptors 32-17 in the fourth.
“I think it speaks a little bit to the character of the group,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said.
“They just stick with it. I think it’s become a little bit of a theme in the playoffs: I think eventually, hopefully, we feel like if we stick with what we’re doing, good things will happen for us,” he said.
Lopez had a dunk with 2 minutes, 20 seconds left to put the Bucks ahead for good, added a three-pointer on the next Milwaukee possession to push the lead to four and the Bucks — after trailing for the overwhelming majority of the game — did just enough in the final minutes to grab the series lead.
“I think this game definitely made us better,” Antetokounmpo said.
Malcolm Brogdon scored 15 and Nikola Mirotic had 13 for Milwaukee, who closed the game with 10 unanswered points.
“We just did a great job of sticking with what we’ve been doing all post-season long,” Lopez said.
Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points and Kyle Lowry added 30 for the Raptors, who led by as many as 13 early and took an 83-76 lead into the final quarter. Lowry was five for seven in the fourth — and his teammates were zero for 15.
“Fourth quarter killed us, 32-17,” Lowry said.
“They outplayed us in that fourth quarter. They got a little bit more aggressive. They made some big shots, made some big plays. It sucks when you lose like that, but we had our chance and we’ve got to learn from it,” he said.
Lopez added 11 rebounds for the Bucks, who had three players post double-doubles.
Antetokounmpo had 14 rebounds and Khris Middleton finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds for Milwaukee, who are now 9-1 in this post-season.
The Bucks trailed for 37 of the game’s 48 minutes. It did not matter. They stayed just close enough until they could finish with a serious kick.
“The way guys competed and just got after it... Stands out to me,” Budenholzer said.
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