Two teams coming in off big wins match up on Friday night as the Milwaukee Bucks welcome the visiting Toronto Raptors.
This is Game 3 of a four-game homestand for the Bucks. They took down the Orlando Magic 122-93 in dominating fashion Wednesday night. It was their fifth win in their last six games.
Milwaukee’s box score stood out due to their lack of 3-point shooting, putting up just 12 attempts, six in each half, and making seven of them. They shot 62.5 percent from the floor on the night.
“We didn’t need ’em. You drive to score or drive to get threes. (Wednesday night) on our drives, we were scoring on them,” Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said. “I think this is the lowest 3-point attempts of anyone in the NBA this season, yet we still scored 122 points.”
Toronto made headlines on Wednesday by cruising past the defending champion Boston Celtics 110-97 in Toronto. It was their second win in a row following a five-game skid.
The Raptors’ defense has stepped up the last two games after struggling for most of the season, ranking 26th in defensive rating.
“Sticking with our principles, doing it with more detail, more force,” Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic said regarding the defense. “Communication was good, guys were able to get on the same page and execute on a high level.”
As far as the advanced ratings concern Milwaukee, the Bucks are inching towards being a top-10 team on both sides of the ball. They sit 13th in offensive rating, ninth defensively and 11th in net rating.
The Bucks rank second in the NBA both in 3-point percentage (38.7 percent) and in share of points that come from the midrange (10.2 percent).
RJ Barrett leads Toronto this season with 22.4 points per game. Scottie Barnes paces the Raptors in assists (6.5 per game) while Jakob Poeltl averages 10.6 boards.
Giannis Antetokounmpo leads the Bucks with 31.3 points and 11.8 rebounds per game, both among the NBA’s leaders. Damian Lillard chips in a team-high 7.2 assists per night to go with 25.0 ppg.
On the injury front, Milwaukee was without Gary Trent Jr. (hip flexor strain) on Wednesday and Andre Jackson Jr. (right hip contusion) left that game just before halftime. Trent is listed as probable for Friday’s game, but Jackson is questionable.
Immanuel Quickly (left hip strain) missed Wednesday’s game for Toronto, and Ochai Agbaji suffered a hand laceration and missed the rest of the game. Quickley was ruled out for Friday and Agbaji is considered questionable.
These teams have played twice thus far this season, with Milwaukee winning two very different games: 99-85 at home on Nov. 12 and 128-104 at Toronto on Jan. 6.
In the latter, Milwaukee’s 3-point approach was the opposite of Wednesday night. They shot 22-for-44 (50 percent) from deep and 57 percent from the floor, led by Lillard’s 25 points and five 3-pointers. Six Bucks scored in double-figures.
Milwaukee looks to clinch the season sweep as this is the final matchup between the teams. Toronto won the three-game season series last season 2-1.
–Field Level Media
