The Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors faced off in the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday night in Milwaukee, and the Bucks were looking to win the franchise’s first ECF game since 2001 against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Though the Raptors started off strong and took a 59-51 lead into halftime, the Bucks rallied late behind the exploits of Brook Lopez – who poured in a Playoff career-high 29 points – and also, oh yeah, its best player, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Giannis put up a typical, do-everything stat line of 24 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals, but perhaps his biggest play was his third and final block of the game, which occurred late in the fourth quarter:
NOT IN GIANNIS' HOUSE!#FearTheDeer 108#WeTheNorth 100
23.2 remaining on @NBAonTNT pic.twitter.com/s5OC7aTsXG
— NBA (@NBA) May 16, 2019
The Bucks had surged ahead in the second half and were staked out to an eight-point lead. Kyle Lowry of the Raptors, who himself was having the best playoff game of his life, knifed through the lane past Giannis, thinking he might have a chance to cut the lead slightly.
Instead, Giannis deftly recovered and viciously erased the shot of the far smaller Lowry.
The Bucks’ depth seemed to give the Raptors problems all night, though Lowry produced an excellent game with 30 points on 10 of 15 shooting, including 7 of 9 from long distance.
He did have four costly turnovers and five fouls, though.
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