Last Night In The NBA: Brook Lopez Must Play A Lot Of Dino Hunter Because He Murdered The Raptors

Good morning everybody happy Thursday and welcome back to another edition of Last Night In The NBA where we bring you up to speed on everything that went down from the night before in the Association. After the WCF set the stage earlier in the week it was the East’s turn to show us if things would be a little more competitive between the two best teams in the conference. I’d say it lived up to expectations and has the looks of a series that hopefully goes the distance. These two teams are way more even than what we have in the West and the first game told s that. Now if you were busy watching playoff hockey or something and missed the action, here’s what happened.

(2) Toronto Raptors 100 vs (1) Milwaukee Bucks 108

While both sides have clear superstars, what makes these two teams so damn good is that they don’t have to do it alone. All year MIL thrived because they can kill you with a variety of their starters. Sure things start with Giannis but when they’re rolling the threes start to drop and one night it could be Middleton, the next Bledsoe, or like last night Brook Lopez. It feels weird typing that the Bucks don’t win this game without the performance of Brook Lopez but that’s the truth. A guy that had 27 points in the entire second round showed up HUGE in the fourth quarter with 13 of his 29 points including 3 4PM

Remember, this is the Brook Lopez that the Lakers didn’t want. This is the Brook Lopez that basically any team could have had this summer, he only signed a 1/3M deal. Well all that happened was he completely changed his offensive game, became a legit three point shooting big and is a huge part of this new revamped Bucks offense. The man took 11 threes last night, some in big moments too, and it’s changed everything about how the Bucks play. The Bucks needed this performance too, because outside of Giannis and his 24/14

no other Buck starter shot the ball all that well. Mirotic just 3-9, Middleton 4-12, and Bledsoe 3-12 certainly didn’t help things. In fact they finished with just 39/25% splits, something that usually gets you beat when you’re playing a team like TOR and it certainly looked like we were headed that way until the final 12 minutes. All of the sudden the threes started falling, and the Bucks put up their biggest scoring quarter of the game (32) to ultimately pull away late.

We also have to mention how huge the return of Malcolm Brogdon is going to be for this team. Now that he has his legs under him after missing so much time, we’re reminded just how important he is to this team’s success. His 15/3/3 off the bench came on an efficient 5-9, he made 3 3PM, and was a +18 in his 27 minutes. He was by far the best bench player for both teams and that is such a nice luxury to have in the event someone like Bledsoe struggles again

In my opinion this was a very Bucks-esq win. They hang around, keep things close, and then at the end of quarters tighten up on the defensive end, go on a run, and use a big momentum three to deliver the final death blow. We’ve seen games like this from them all year, but I think it’s a great sign that they didn’t panic on this big stage which is impressive given nobody really has ECF experience on this roster.

For TOR, a missed opportunity no doubt. Not only that, but they wasted what may have been one of the best playoff performances in Kyle Lowry’s career

You certainly could not have predicted this was the offensive performance we were going to get from Lowry given his playoff history, but unfortunately unlike the Bucks the Raptors didn’t get that same sort of production from their depth. Lowry was awesome sure, Kawhi was the same old dominant specimen

But everyone else? Basically didn’t even show up. Pascal Siakam who in my mind is one of the X factors in this series had a tough 6-20 showing, Gasol and Danny Green not only had rough offensive nights but really sort of blew it at the end of the game as well which hurts even more. That turnover by Green where he couldn’t even dribble the basketball was a rough one, and you can’t go into the Bucks arena and shoot 37/35% and think things are going to work out for you.

The most surprising thing this postseason when it comes to TOR though is how their bench has been such a non factor. This is one of the best benches in the entire league, and yet they are getting jack shit at this point. Fred VanVleet is literally unplayable and that’s a problem because he’s their primary backup point guard. Serge Ibaka one day is killing the Sixers and then the next right back to missing every shot he takes. If the starters are going to struggle, and the bench is going to get destroyed like this, well the Raptors are big time fucked. Granted this was the first game on the road and ideally they just need the split, but this has been the trend all postseason and why they have to rely so heavily on Kawhi.

Take the fourth quarter for example. This is where the game was lost right? Well outsidfe of Lowry, no other Raptor made a FG in those 12 minutes. They went 0-15. Nothing from Kawhi, nothing from Siakam, nothing from anyone not named Kyle Lowry who was 5-7. That’s pretty bad in my unbiased opinion and that’s how you lose a quarter by 15 points a blow a huge opportunity to steal homecourt.

You also have to think now that the Bucks are finally back after a week off they’ll be better in Game 2, which is why if the Raptors were going to steal one last night was perhaps their best opportunity. Who knows though, Kawhi could go for 40 next game, Danny Green may hit some threes and things may be fine, but once you get to the conference finals it’s usually not the best idea to give games away to a team that won 60 games during the year and has lost just once all postseason.

And that’s it! You’re now all caught up on everything that went down last night in the NBA. We’re back tonight with Game 2 of the WCF, so hopefully it’s actually competitive. Have a great Thursday!