2018 Toronto raptors . . .

[ripley502]

Forget the Greek Freak, see the dunk by the Cameroon Freak?

[Par90]

The score aside ...I am happier being a Rap fan than Buck fan so far.

[Another 9]

Bench that plug Green he cost us the game with that late turnover.

[mpare]

Gasol's shooting this evening was painful to watch, as was Green's. The rest of the team didn't help Lowry and Leonard either. That duo gave it their best.

[pendlebg]

Well, a winnable game given away.

A few things that went under the radar earlier in the playoff but were sore thumbs tonight.

1) Offensively, Green has dissapeared. He is playing incredibly slowly, is not ready to catch and shoot, and has become a stopping point in the offense. I have no idea why, but he has been poor the entire playoffs and not sure I see any sign of him recovering. I have to wonder if he is hurt because he looks like and old man when he gets the ball.

2) Siakam started to look like the playoffs were a brand new thing against PHI and looked like that even morese tonight. he has great skills but just looks like he goes into brainlock lately.

3) When Siakam and Green become non factors, opponents have even more reason to leave them and lock down on Kawhi. I do think Siakam in particular needs to be a threat to drive and score to open up space for Kawhi. As long as Siakam suffers from the pressure the harder it is for Kawhi to dominate.

4) Gasol offensively is looking old. Can the Raptors move him somewhere else and give up on his 3 pt shooting? It does not seem like an efficient play

All of that said the Raptors were still up after 3 quarters and can clearly beat the Bucks. They should at a minimum feel that if they played the Bucks when Lopez does not become a all star out of nowhere then all can be good. I have always liked Lopez's game but he has never been that good in his entire life. I doubt it continues at that level

I think this game showed this series really deserves to go 6 or 7 games and should be very close. If the Raptors can bring enough presence (mainly Siakam but hate to put that pressure on a kid) to keep the Bucks from getting away with smothering Kawhi then I give them the odds on to make it through.

[Chambokl]

I swear . . . FVV has to have something on Nurse . . . there is absolutely no reason for him to be on the court right now.

We just have to win one game in Milwaukee . . .

[pendlebg]

I swear . . . FVV has to have something on Nurse . . . there is absolutely no reason for him to be on the court right now.

We just have to win one game in Milwaukee . . .

FVV did not cost us that game. We could have borrowed CP3 for his minutes and it would not have made a difference. We have a few starters dissapearing who need to get back.

The Raptors were outscored by 15 points in the 4th quarter, which was almost all starters playing. Yes they coughed up a 7 point lead quickly with a few subs on early in the quarter, but the starters got beaten by 8 points in the last 8 - 9 minutes.

[hackerhare]

I don’t get these guys. When one attacks the hoop, the rest just stood around. Lopez was in the zone.

[Par90]

NBA the 4th quarter league never so true.....Raps 17 points,Lowery 13 from field ...zip from anyone else(only 2 shots from KL).In any case Lopez and Lowery scoring were unexpected.If Raps can maintain energy,I think we can still get the 2nd game...with this sh*t bench it's going to be a challenge.

[Emtee]

I wasn’t able to watch the first 3 quarters. Why no Serge/Gasol combo in the 4th? Did he foul out, or was NN going back to his reg season format?

[hackerhare]

Raptors cannot win this series without serious bench contribution. The Bucks have a very deep bench. Even their bench players can hold their own against our starters. Kawhi looks tired in the 4th. He is not even looking for the ball. Its tough for him to play against Middleton/Bledzoe combo, as both are good two way players.

[Chambokl]

FVV did not cost us that game. We could have borrowed CP3 for his minutes and it would not have made a difference. We have a few starters disappearing who need to get back.

The Raptors were outscored by 15 points in the 4th quarter, which was almost all starters playing. Yes they coughed up a 7 point lead quickly with a few subs on early in the quarter, but the starters got beaten by 8 points in the last 8 - 9 minutes.

I tried to look where I said he cost the game??? One thing about basketball . . . try to keep the crowd quiet. We were up 7 starting the 4th quarter and 3 minutes in we were down 2 or 3 . . . Absolutely useless minutes and FVV is the one with the ball. Get somebody else in there . . . surely can't be worst. Maybe they could help on defence . . . FVV dribbles and dribbles and suddenly we are at the end of the shot clock and hoist a shot . . . Right now, FVV is and has been overmatch for the whole play-off.

[pendlebg]

I tried to look where I said he cost the game??? One thing about basketball . . . try to keep the crowd quiet. We were up 7 starting the 4th quarter and 3 minutes in we were down 2 or 3 . . . Absolutely useless minutes and FVV is the one with the ball. Get somebody else in there . . . surely can't be worst. Maybe they could help on defence . . . FVV dribbles and dribbles and suddenly we are at the end of the shot clock and hoist a shot . . . Right now, FVV is and has been overmatch for the whole play-off.

No you never said he cost the game. I am not trying to defend FVV's play, but he was better last night than in the PHI series, which is not saying much but he was. In the second half he played about the last 3 minutes of Q3 and the first 2.5 of Q4 and the Raptors began that up 9 and ended up 2. In that time Lopez scored 10 points, Iliasova 2, Mirotic 2, Giannis 1, and Brogdon hit 2 FT's on a foul commited by FVV. Safe to say that FVV is not out there defending any of Lopez, iliasova, Mirotic, or Giannis. FVV can take some share of the blame for the Raptors offensive slowdown during that time however.

What really killed the Raptors was the final 3:30 of the game when they managed a grand total of 0 points. They had a 100 - 98 lead with 3.5 to go and let the Bucks close the game on a 10 - 0 run with all of our starters on the floor. In that time the Bucks outrebounded the Raptors 8 - 3. Their shot selection in the last 3 minutes was 4 3 pt shots, all missed (Gasol, Green, Leonard, Lowry), 2 layups that were both blocked by the bucks (Lowry and Leonard) and a missed jumper by Gasol. As fas as defense, the only Buck to score in the last 3 minutes other than Free throws was Lopez with 5 points, the other 5 were FT's from Bledsoe and Middleton (2 each) and Giannis scored his last .point of the game with a FT w. just more than 3 minutes left.

So the final indignity is the Raptors had a lead with 3 minutes to go, never allowed Giannis to score another point, limited the rest of the Bucks not named Lopez to nothing outside of 4 FT's and still lost by 8. They are more than capable of closing out the game much better but need to do it.

I still see this being a long series as I do not expect the Raps to collapse in the last few minutes routinely.

[Par90]

Lopez averaged 5 PPG against Celtics.The Raps can play with the Bucks.

[nomullies]

Bench that plug Green he cost us the game with that late turnover.

That hurt but Powell missed an easy reverse that would have put us up 9. Although I think Green also missed one. Great passes from Lowry. Have to finish. Some on here are complaining about the bench. Hell some of the starters aren't adding much, Green and Gasol at the top of the list.