Gary Trent Jr. finished 7-of-15 shooting from 3-point range en route to 31 points, and with Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo sidelined, the visiting Toronto Raptors snapped the second-longest losing streak in franchise history with Friday’s 117-111 win.
Toronto (24-53) had lost 15 straight heading into Milwaukee, two defeats shy of matching the longest skid for the organization, set in the 1997-98 season.
But with Trent matching his season-high point total and with RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley going for 26 and 25 points, respectively, the Raptors ended their winless drought.
Quickley also flirted with a triple-double, grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing nine assists.
Quickley snared the last of his rebounds in traffic off a missed Khris Middleton 3-point attempt with 19 seconds remaining that would have given Milwaukee the lead.
All three of Milwaukee’s losses amid its slump have been against opponents eliminated from playoff contention, with the Bucks (47-30) falling to Washington and Memphis earlier in the week.
The two previous defeats whittled Milwaukee’s lead over Cleveland for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference down to 1 1/2 games heading into Friday. But with Damian Lillard back in the lineup, the Bucks surged to a 10-point first-half lead over Toronto.
Lillard missed the previous three games, including the two losses to the Wizards and Grizzlies. Lillard returned strong, scoring 36 points and dishing six assists.
Middleton scored 21 points and passed for six assists, Bobby Portis added 19 points and 10 rebounds off the bench and Brook Lopez finished with 15 points.
Raptors rookie Gradey Dick extended his run of consecutive double-figure point-scoring games to five with 10 points off the bench, and Kelly Olynyk added 12 points in Toronto’s first win since March 3.
–Field Level Media
