Despite a bombastic performance from Kyle Lowry in a testy Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Toronto Raptors fell apart late, as the rest of his team unable to make a single shot to help him lead them to victory.
The Raptors had a grip in the ball game until a couple of Brook Lopez 3-pointers brought the Bucks within striking distance in the fourth quarter and while Lowry made shot after shot to pull his team back to the front, it wouldn't make a dent on the Bucks' rampant run.
“Fourth quarter killed us, 32-17,” said Lowry, according to The Associated Press. “They outplayed us in that fourth quarter. They got a little bit more aggressive. They made some big shots, made some big plays. It sucks when you lose like that. But we had our chance and we've got to learn from it.”
The Raptors went a futile 0-for-15 in the fourth quarter while Lowry connected on five of his seven shot attempts. The only other time in the last 10 postseasons that a team had only one player make a basket in the fourth quarter was the 2011 Chicago Bulls in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, according to Stats by STATS — where Taj Gibson scored every bucket. Those Bulls would go on to lose Game 2 and consequently the next three games to the Miami Heat.
Lowry had been described as the biggest doubt heading into this series, but it was he who delivered the best performance in Game 1. His teammates would be smart to follow suit in Game 2 or risk going down a 2-0 hole to a formidable Bucks team.
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