ATLANTA – For the second time in four games, the Milwaukee Bucks were outplayed on both ends of the court on Wednesday night. They fell behind the Toronto Raptors 130-111 at Scotiabank Arena and were never able to catch up.

Toronto had the lowest offensive rating (99.6 points per 100 possessions) and scoring offense (99.5 points per game) in the league. They were only making 42.5% of their shots overall (27th) and only 33% of their three-pointers (21st). When they faced the Bucks, they significantly exceeded those figures.

Regarding the defensive effort, Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin remarked, “I didn’t think we did a good job as far as keeping the ball in front and obviously points in the paint, as far as kickout threes.” “While driving, they were driving around. merely restricting penetration and then using self control to simply sit and watch. I felt that the paint had too many straight line drives and that they were splattering too much. I accept some of the blame because that is somewhat our staff’s fault. Simply need to prepare them more thoroughly each night.”

Raptors 130, Bucks 111 in the box score

Prior to Wednesday’s game, the Raptors had only scored 100 points twice, and in one of those contests, they required overtime to accomplish so.

Damian Lillard, the point guard for the Bucks, stated, “The hard part is just staying patient.” “I don’t think that makes it any easier; I think we’ve all been around long enough to realize it’s a process and it will take time. Since we’re competitors and have accomplished something at a high level, we expect to receive the caliber of results that we put into it. That’s why you kind of feel like a man while it’s happening. I know I said it’s a process and that it will take time.

There will be moments when it appears ugly, and other times when it will resemble its intended potential. After a very strong performance on opening night, we kind of went against Atlanta. After that, we recovered, and tonight was the same. So, I believe that when you experience that kind of irregularity, you know you’re in that kind of process.”

However, none of us are accepting it as normal. It’s obviously annoying. It’s one thing to understand it in walkthroughs and in practice, but it’s another to go out there when another team is trying to disrupt it and to be able to make reads and understand within that is a different challenge. We don’t want it, but we’re still trying to learn each other and a new staff.”

The Bucks (2-2) were outplayed, outrebounded, and outplayed by the Raptors (2-3), who took a 17-point lead late in the first quarter and extended it to as much as 27 in the second. The Raptors were disruptive from the first tip. From then on, there was never much question. 54.2% of their shots were made, while 9 out of 20 were made from beyond the three-point arc. They cleared 32 boards in total, 16 more than the Bucks, and had 11 second-chance points off of eight offensive rebounds in the first half.

“It’s a struggle,” stated Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks. “Okay, we can make excuses; there’s a new coach, a new player, etc.; we can keep doing that and pretend everything will be alright, but that’s not how life works.” That’s not how it operates.

“You have to come up with answers, and for now, we’re thinking that we’ll win Game 40 because we have a new coach and player. Nope. We need to improve. We need to have games together. We need to be more explicit about the goals we have for offensive. You have to live with something, so we need to be more explicit about what we’re attempting to achieve defensively and who we’re going to let to attack us. You are unable to halt anything. We are able to continue finding answers. We’re not there yet as of yet.

“Perhaps in the future, we can improve. However, we won’t if we only hold onto the belief that things will get better down the road. We need to come to the court every day and work on improving. We will improve as a team, in my opinion. With luck.”

The Raptors entered the game with the third-best scoring defense in the league (102.8), and they were able to enforce their defensive philosophy by jumping out to a big lead so quickly. Throughout the entire game, OG Anunoby pressured Antetokounmpo while the Raptors crowded the court to keep Khris Middleton and Lillard off rhythm.

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With 20 points on 7 of 10 shots, including 6 three-pointers, Malik Beasley led the Bucks. With 26, Pascal Siakam led the Raptors.

Bucks acknowledge the difficult jelling process.

Misunderstandings. not wishing to go too far. Making an effort to act morally. Recognizing patterns in opponents and teammates and using them when the game is close. Antetokounmpo and Lillard stated candidly at the conclusion of the preseason that such things would take time. But it has been difficult to accept two forgettable defeats by underachieving teams.

“Typically for me, I take charge, and I try to make things happen and do more,” Lillard stated. “However, I feel like I don’t want to do it. I want to accept that stuff is happening as it happens. It’s also likely that Giannis and Khris are experiencing the same emotions.

“Instead of just going back to something unsustainable, we want to demonstrate trust. And I believe that’s why things might get ugly at times.

And occasionally, at least in my experience in the league, when everyone is trying to do the right thing and no one wants to do the wrong thing, things can become a little ugly. That seems to be sort of taking place.”

While Antetokounmpo acknowledged that the Bucks had made an effort, he also acknowledged that the team eventually needed a determined sparkplug in a game like this.

“I feel like a lot of people are trying to do the right thing and sometimes it’s gotta be somebody that gonna have to start the spark and do something that other people can follow,” he stated. “At times, some guys did that tonight but wasn’t able to follow up with it.”

“Defensively, we were unable to stop them when we had open looks and easy baskets offensively. Thus, to reiterate, I believe that occasionally men need to take the initiative and assert their will in order for others to follow suit, generate momentum, and launch an initiative.”

Raptors put more force behind Lillard and Antetokounmpo

The Raptors not only had their finest offensive game of the season, dominating the game by 15 points or more, but they also made an effort to limit Antetokounmpo’s driving lanes and angles. At the half, he had only made one of his four free throw attempts and was just 1-for-4 for three points. With two minutes remaining in the first quarter, he made his first basket, putting the Bucks behind 17 points.

Original To keep Antetokounmpo at bay, Anunoby was given the primary assignment. However, the Raptors also made sure to throw center Jakob Poeltl and guard Scottie Barnes at Antetokounmpo. Sadly, the Bucks were unable to generate any opportunities when he kicked the ball out.

After playing for twenty-eight minutes, Antetokounmpo scored sixteen points on five of eleven shots, but he was six of nine at the free throw line. In addition, he only had four rebounds and two assists.

“It’s tough to score when we kept taking the ball out every time,” Griffin stated. “Giannis thrives in the open floor and we didn’t give him an opportunity to do that because our defense couldn’t get stops when needed to.”

Lillard shot 4-for-9 from the field in his thirty minutes, including a 1-for-4 performance from beyond the three-point arc. He assisted six others and sank six of his seven free throws for a total of 15 points.

Regarding Lillard’s low shot total, Griffin remarked, “To me, you just take what the defense gives you.”

They’re going to surround him with two or three people, and someone is going to attempt an open three. And we received open shots after doing that. Beasley opened up three, swing-swing, and banged own a couple wide open (shots). Even while it might not be your night to produce a lot of shots, you can still be a facilitator and force the opposition to pay for putting numerous men in front of Giannis and Dame. And with that, I need to perform better. However, those guys are still in the early stages and are making every effort to discover each other’s abilities and play together. And eventually it will.

Bucks are always in need of stops.

The Raptors had the worst offensive line in the NBA after four games, but the Bucks were unable to put together consecutive stops to shift the tide of play. While Toronto’s 14 offensive rebounds and 21 second-chance points with the starting lineup contributed to their offensive efficiency, the Raptors also took advantage of the Bucks’ rotations by attacking the paint and transferring the ball with decisiveness.

Bucks center Brook Lopez stated, “We just gotta do a better job of taking care of the defensive glass.” “They performed admirably. On that, they struggled mightily. It was obvious that they were focusing on that. They performed a wonderful job on it, and it appeared to be a vital component of their strategy. We must improve in that area.”

When the starters were in, the Raptors scored 62 points in the painted area, with 26 fast-break baskets and eight dunks coming mostly without much difficulty. And with their starters in the lineup, the Raptors set a season best with 33 assists on 48 field goals, despite the Bucks forcing 16 turnovers.

Antetokounmpo expressed a slight sense of astonishment at the length of time it’s taking to respond defensively.

Certainly, he replied. “We will all have to go through a learning curve and face many challenges. Knowing when to lend a hand and when not to is essential. And occasionally, when we attempt to support a teammate, they will knock down the three.

Ultimately, though, we must continue to work toward our defense because sometimes the system will function as intended and other times it won’t. And occasionally it didn’t work. They were making baskets and advancing the ball. Their total score was 130. They performed incredibly well.”

5 digits

Four games in a row A career best of at least 20 points has been scored by Raptors forward Scottie Barnes. Against the Bucks, he scored 21, including four three-pointers. In addition, he had five assists and 12 rebounds.

Thirteen The smallest deficit the Bucks tried to work back from in the second half, when Antetokounmpo threw down a lob dunk on an inbound pass from Cameron Payne with 34.7 seconds left in the third quarter. However, the Raptors responded with another three-pointer to increase their lead to 20 early in the fourth quarter.

For Khris Middleton, 17 minutes. In his previous two games, he had played 16 and 17 minutes, respectively. He got three rebounds, no assists, and 11 points on 4 of 10 shooting. Once again he did not play in the fourth quarter.

There was an odd moment in the third quarter when Middleton entered the game 90 seconds into it for Brook Lopez. Griffin said afterward he thought the forward had hit his minutes limit, but was informed Middleton had more time, so he subbed him in.

Lopez didn’t know that the was reason for the change and said after the game whatever the reason was, it was fine by him. Middleton said he was informed of his additional when called upon in the moment.

“When I found out he wasn’t (at his limit) I put Khris in and then tried to go small,” Griffin explained. “It was just that. Brook didn’t do anything wrong, but I thought initially Khris was done with his minutes but he had a few more so I wanted to throw him back in there.”

33 Seconds left in the first quarter when Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin challenged an offensive foul called on Antetokounmpo. He lost that challenge, which meant he would not have one the rest of the game.

36 Free throw attempts by the Bucks when all of the starters were in for both teams, but they made 26 (72.2%). It was a massive advantage for the Bucks, as the Raptors attempted just 10 when the starters were in.

Did you notice?

With just under five minutes left in the first half, Toronto guard Gary Trent Jr. missed a 10-footer and fell to the court. The Bucks didn’t corral the rebound and the ball fell to Trent, who was still on the ground. The possession then eventually led to a Dennis Schröder three-pointer. It was one of many plays like that in the first half in which the Bucks didn’t finish a possession with a defensive rebound and allowed the Raptors additional chances to score.

Adrian Griffin caps ‘reunion’ month

The were going to be firsts along the way for Griffin in his first year as the Bucks head coach, but many of the emotional ones were checked off in the first month of his tenure:

Oct. 8: First preseason game against Chicago and Billy Donovan, who Griffin worked under in Oklahoma City from 2016-18.

Oct. 26: First regular season game against Philadelphia and Nick Nurse, who Griffin worked under in Toronto from 2018-23.

Oct. 29: Coaching against son A.J. Griffin and the Atlanta Hawks.

Nov. 1: First game in Toronto, where Griffin was part of the 2019 NBA champion Raptors. The Raptors are coached by Darko Rajaković, who worked alongside Griffin with the Thunder.

“It’s great to be back,” Griffin said about Toronto. “A lot of fond memories here. We were a tight knit family as far as (team president) Masai (Ujiri) and (general manager) Bobby (Webster). We won a championship here. Special times. It’s a little awkward being in the visiting locker room but I got to see a couple players when I walked in. You miss those guys. You build strong bonds with them over the years but tonight we’ve got to beat them.”

The Raptors played a tribute video to Griffin during the first timeout of the game.

“It’s been crazy,” Griffin said of the opening weeks on the job. “But you gotta maintain your focus. Our job is to be as prepared as possible when the ball goes up. You just gotta keep the main thing the main thing, have great practices, have great shootarounds, come in with a focus and expect the best from everyone.”

This stretch doesn’t include Friday’s game against New York and head coach Tom Thibodeau, who Grififn played under in Houston and worked for in Chicago.

Bucks pick up MarJon Beauchamp’s third-year option

MarJon Beauchamp, the No. 24 pick in the 2022 draft, had the option on the third year of his rookie contract exercised by the Bucks on Tuesday, per a league source. He will make $2.7 million in 2024-25. The second-year wing has been worked into the Bucks’ rotation while coming off the bench in the first few games of the season.

The 23-year-old experienced growth in his offensive game over the summer and preseason, and he’s taken that confidence into the early part of the regular season (62.5% shooting, 66.7% three-point shooting in two games). He’s also been trusted to relieve starter Malik Beasley on the defensive end and take on some of the more formidable offensive players.