A frenetic, towel-waving crowd of 19,000 Bucks fans was in the stands at BMO Harris Bradley Center on Thursday night as Milwaukee Bucks hosted the Toronto Raptors. It was Game 6 of their exciting first-round playoff series with Toronto leading the series 3-2 coming into Thursday's matchup. Entering Thursday, Toronto was 0-4 all-time in Game 6 on the road. Milwaukee, on the other hand, hasn't won a playoff series since advancing to the Eastern Conference finals in 2001. A lot was at stake on Thursday night as Toronto wanted to close the series and advance to the second round, while the Bucks wanted to force a Game 7 on the road.
Khris Middleton was in the lineup for Milwaukee despite missing practice time this week because of illness.
Raptors advance despite blowing a 25-point lead
Milwaukee got off to a great start early in Game 6 as they opened up the game with an 8-0 start. Toronto would rally back with a run of their own and they ended up the first 12 minutes of the game with a 28-24 lead. Demar Derozan scored 10 points for the Raptors in the first quarter, while Giannis Antetokounmpo had 14 points for the Bucks in that period. Raptors outscored the Bucks 23-14 in the second quarter and held a 51-38 lead at halftime. Antetokounmpo led all scorers with 18 points at halftime. Midway through the third quarter, Toronto had its biggest lead of the game at 25 points (71-46) and the score was 74-61 after three-quarters of playing time.
At the start of the final period of the game Milwaukee went on a 17-4 run and they would tie at 80-80 with five minutes left. Despite blowing a 25-point lead, the Raptors managed to take the win at the end. Final score was 92-89 for Dwane Casey's squad that outrebounded Milwaukee 43-38. Toronto shot 40.9% from the three-point line in this one.
Antetokounmpo's 34 points not enough
Giannis Antetokounmpo led all scorers on Thursday night. He finished the game with 34 points, nine rebounds, and three assists. He was efficient shooting the ball (13-23) but he was just 2 of 6 in the fourth quarter. He played 47 minutes in his final game of the season. Khris Middleton added 19 points and five assists while Matthew Dellavedova contributed with 12 points and four rebounds.
DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors in scoring with 32 points. He also added four rebounds and he was 8-for-9 from the free-throw line. The only other Toronto player that finished in double-digit scoring was Kyle Lowry. Lowry scored 13 points and dished out four assists. The Raptors were +7 when he was on the floor.
The Raptors advance to the second round of Eastern Conference playoffs and they will face the Cleveland Cavaliers. They will have home-court advantage in the series. Game 1 will be played on Monday.
