It is an Eastern Conference finals matchup between Toronto Raptors and Milwaukee Bucks, in Fiserv forum, the home of Bucks. Game 1 was interesting and went to the wire and we expect the same scenario in this one, so please review our thoughts here below about another great NBA game.
Milwaukee Bucks
Milwaukee is just cruising through the playoffs. Their winning record in 9-1 and they are looking great. One of the main reasons for this kind of success is the Bucks’ defense. Their rotation is perfect, Milwaukee is not allowing many open shots for the opponents.
Another big reason is Giannis Antetokounmpo. He is a physical beast that drives to the basket at a lightning speed and makes his defenders look like kids on the court. The Greek Freak has also developed his shooting ability so basically, he is unguardable.
But one player is not everything. Bucks have a very deep roster and their 6th or 7th guy is also a threat. Starting five is full of high caliber players and if Giannis doesn’t step up — Bucks still do have resources to win games.
Bucks have no injured players.
Milwaukee’s best scoring players in playoffs: Giannis Antetokounmpo (27,1ppg, 11,6rpg, 4,6apg, 1,3stlpg, 1,7blkpg), Khris Middleton (18,3ppg, 6,5rpg, 4,5apg), Eric Bledsoe (15,3ppg, 4,1apg, 1,1stlpg)
Toronto Raptors
Toronto is coming to this series after a hard-fought, 7 games series against 76ers. But as they won it, they are ready to show their skills against arguably the best team in the NBA right now. Toronto is defending very well, but their offensive work is not that great. The thing is that they rely on one player too much and if he struggles to score — Raptors will have many problems to put up points.
And this man is Kawhi Leonard. After hitting this huge game-winner against Philadelphia, it looks like his confidence has grown up to the sky. He is one of the best two-way players in the NBA and probably the best perimeter defender in the World. His calm attitude and leadership on the court, help other players become better.
The bad thing about the Raptors is that they do not have any depth and in the playoffs, it’s crucial if you want to the finals. Toronto’s bench scoring is one of the worst in the NBA and this is the main reason why they are not favorites to win the NBA.
Patrick McCaw is injured, but this shouldn’t be a huge problem for the Raptors.
Toronto’s best scoring players in playoffs: Kawhi Leonard (31,8ppg, 8,5rpg, 3,5apg, 1,4stlpg), Pascal Siakam (20,3ppg, 7,2rpg, 2,5apg, 1,2stlpg), Kyle Lowry (13,8ppg, 5,2rpg, 6,7apg)
H2H
So we already saw the 1st game of these two teams and it was close until the last second. But then in the last 2 minutes of the game, Brook Lopez stepped up. He scores a few important baskets and that was enough to finish Raptors. This is what I talked about earlier. Milwaukee has players that can step up if they are ought to. Toronto relies on one player and as he played not the best game that he can play, Raptors lost. It is possible that we will have another close game like this, but it looks like Bucks will hold on their home court advantage as they almost do not lose at home.
Article Image Taken from https://www.nba.com/article/2017/04/13/playoffs-numbers-preview-toronto-raptors-milwaukee-bucks