The Toronto Raptors may have lost Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals against the Milwaukee Bucks, but a lot of people still believe that they will be the ones who will advance to the NBA Finals. One of their believers is former NBA player Matt Barnes, who shared his thoughts on why the Raps will be the ones coming out on top in this series.
Despite losing Game 1, @Matt_Barnes22 is taking Toronto in 7. pic.twitter.com/IBIahm7uEh
— First Take (@FirstTake) May 16, 2019
The Raptors have dominated the Bucks throughout the first three quarters of Game 1, but have failed to land the finishing blows in the final period, which allowed Milwaukee to take the come-from-behind win.
Kawhi Leonard once again took a lot of shots, but only had three attempts in the fourth quarter. He finished with 31 points on 10-26 shooting, nine rebounds, and three steals. Pascal Siakam, who was impressive in the second round of the playoffs, struggled in Game 1, finishing with 15 points on 20 shot attempts. Kyle Lowry, who has been inconsistent in these playoffs, hit seven 3-pointers against Milwaukee. He finished with 30 points.
One of the Raptors' biggest problems against the Bucks was their defense on Brook Lopez, who scored 29 points in Game 1, two more than his total output in the entire second round of the playoffs. Marc Gasol, who did an impressive job in defending Sixers' Joel Embiid during the conference semi-finals, struggled against Bro-Lo. He wasn't much of a factor on offense either, as he only managed to score six points to go along with his 12 rebounds.
Game 2 of the series is tomorrow night, where the Raptors will look to even things up. They have already shown that they can go toe-to-toe with the Bucks. All they have to do now is to get the job done when it matters the most.
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