What Milwaukee Bucks Must Do To Defeat Toronto Raptors
The Milwaukee Bucks (10-14) will be taking on the Toronto Raptors (8-18) tonight at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
The Bucks are currently riding a three-game losing streak after their emotional win over the Miami Heat at home while the Raptors have lost two in a row. Both teams overcame large deficits in their previous games only to lose.
Milwaukee came back against the Phoenix Suns after being down 17 points. They tied the game with under a minute to go but Steven Nash scored a layup with five seconds remaining. The Bucks did have a legitimate chance to win but were never able to get a shot off as time expired. Toronto on the other hand was able to overcome an 18-point deficit and take the Washington Wizards to overtime. Unfortunately, they were unable to hit critical shots at the end to win the game.
The Bucks rank 16th in points, 25th in rebounds, 11th in assists and 17th in points allowed per game while the Raptors rank 28th in points, 16th in rebounds, 18th in assists and 13th in points allowed per game. The closest team matchup will between the Bucks scoring and the Raptors ability to hold teams under 100 points. Milwaukee averages 94.5 points per game while Toronto allows 94.0 points. These statistics are very close which means even the slightest mistake can be crucial to the outcome of the game.
A good one-on-one matchup to watch will be between Drew Gooden and Andrea Bargnani. Both centers are having very productive seasons and are playing important roles for their teams. Gooden, a typical power forward, has had to step in the starting role due to an injured Andrew Bogut. Since taking over he has been a big reason why the Bucks have been successful over the past three weeks.
Bargnani leads the team in scoring with 23.5 points per game so he will be Milwaukee’s number one priority tonight on the defensive side of the ball. If the Bucks can stop him in the middle and force other Raptor players to shoot low-percentage outside shots, they will have a very good chance at pulling out a victory.
On offense the Bucks must continue to shoot well from behind the arc as it is one of their major keys to success. Their field goal percentage has gradually improved as the season has progressed but it must get even better if Milwaukee wants to get back to winning.
If the Bucks can play their usual hardnosed, aggressive defense and convert a good percentage of shots there should be no reason why they cannot beat the Raptors.
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