The Toronto Raptors have evened up their best-of-seven series with the Milwaukee Bucks at two games apiece with a dominant 120-102 victory in Game 4. With the series headed to a pivotal Game 5, Bucks forward Khris Middleton is getting ready for a dog fight on Thursday, per Malika Andrews of ESPN.
Khris Middleton: “The series is 2-2, it’s not the end of the world. I know game 5 is going to be a dog fight.”
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) May 22, 2019
Many thought the Bucks were on their way to the NBA Finals after coming back from behind to win Game 1 and putting up a dominant performance in Game 2.
However, the Bucks failed to come out of Toronto with a win to put a stranglehold on this series. Milwaukee had a chance to take a commanding 3-0 lead in Game 3 but fell just short in double overtime. Now, they find themselves on equal footing with Toronto in these Eastern Conference Finals after falling flat in Game 4.
Milwaukee's All-Stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton led the way for them. Middleton top-scored for the Bucks with 30 points on 11-of'15 shooting, while Giannis had 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Unfortunately, that's the only real production they got from the team as the Bucks bench got outplayed by Toronto's bench.
The Raptors reserves combined for 38 points. Norman Powell scored 18, Serge Ibaka finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds, and Fred VanVleet finally broke out of his funk with 13 points and six assists.
The Bucks bench, on the other hand, was pretty much non-existent. Their bench unit of George Hill, Ersan Ilyasova, Malcolm Brogdon, and Pat Connaughton combined for just 19 points on 7-of-22 shooting.
This series has had its fair share of bumps and bruises, as both teams look to advance to the Finals to face the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors. With a Finals berth up for grabs, expect these two teams to play harder and even more physical as they both look to inch closer to a date with destiny.
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