King and Cavs await in 2nd round as Raptors pass the Bucks

After holding a commanding 72-48 lead with 3:48 left in third quarter, the Raptors fell apart.

This was an even more lovely and cohesive version of the Raptors than people had hitched their wagons to before the playoffs began.

But they couldn’t hear you.

His only video sample (the only one he was willing to share with the public, at least) was a poorly contacted ball off the tip of the club which sent the ball soaring to the right.

And then, unexpectedly, they didn’t let it happen.

Two years ago, in a Game 6 against the Bulls at the Bradley Center, the Bucks lost by 54 points and Antetokounmpo was ejected for a cheap-shot frustration foul.

Rebounding from 2-1 series deficit and an embarrassing 27-point loss in Game 3, the Raptors will face Cleveland a year after losing to the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals in six games. I loved (director of scouting) Billy McKinney’s line on Thon. “I’ve coached guys that would have caved in under that pressure – the arena, the crowd”. Could the Raptors be trusted to finally make quick work of an inferior first-round opponent? We’ll miss Mike Conley proving he was worth every penny of that contract he got last summer. “Just trying to calm everybody down”.

“It’s human nature to get a little tense when things aren’t going your way”, Joseph explained. However, Corey Joseph helped the Raptors go on 9-0 run in the final two minutes of the game to starve off Milwaukee’s late challenge. He hit on 8-of-19 from the floor and just 1-of-5 from behind the arc, but he knocked down 12 of his 13 free throw attempts. “It’s not that hard. That’s what we need to do”. “We got buckets when we needed to”.

The Raptors were extremely active at the deadline, making deals that make them deeper than a season before. That’s what saved them. “I don’t like the end results – it could have been way better – but you live with the results and you learn”.

Antetokounmpo might be one of the more athletic players in the National Basketball Association, and there’s a reason he’s regarded as “The Greek Freak”. The Bucks were not going to fall easily in the first round.

“This is about stars showing up”. Could Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan be relied upon to at last perform to their regular season standards in a post-season setting? He never really tried to take control of the game.

“We stayed calm”, DeRozan told reporters afterward.

So now it’s Cleveland, the kings of the east. Then the script flipped again in the closing minute or so, and Toronto made all the plays and came away with a series-deciding win. Maybe the Cavaliers are vulnerable enough.

The San Antonio Spurs have moved into the second round of the NBA’s Western Conference playoffs. This Raptors team can dodge bullets.

Crunch time was a microcosm of the game, and the Raptors’ overall fluctuation in legitimacy in this series.

The Raptors fared much better, * a href=”http://stats.nba.com/teams/traditional/#!?sort=W_PCT&dir=-1&Season=2016-17&SeasonType=Playoffs&Period=4&DateFrom=04%2F27%2F2017&DateTo=04%2F27%2F2017&CF=TEAM_NAME*E*toronto” *shooting 7-of-9 from the stripe in the ultimate quarter, and it made all the difference.

He made hard-nosed drives, impossible-angled finishes, and ended with a team-high 32.