Milwaukee Bucks: Top 10 moments from 2017-18 NBA season
6. Overtime win over Toronto Raptors
In 2016-17, the Milwaukee Bucks caught fire in a bottle and rocketed into the postseason, driven by the play of two rookies — Malcolm Brogdon and Thon Maker — and the return of Khris Middleton. They hit the postseason running, jumping out to a 2-1 lead over the Toronto Raptors, only to lose in six games.
The Bucks have a unique combination of height and length that gives the smaller Raptors trouble. Toronto is more comfortable playing three guards than anything else, and with players such as Tony Snell and Khris Middleton on the wing, the Raptors don’t match up well. They have no good option to guard Giannis Antetokounmpo, either.
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On the other hand, the Raptors are the much better team, and for all of their problems guarding Antetokounmpo there is no one to stop DeMar DeRozan either. When the two teams matched up in Toronto soon after the All-Star break, DeRozan again went off, scoring 33 points, but was overwhelmed by the balanced attack of the Bucks.
Antetokounmpo led the way with 26 points, while both Middleton and Eric Bledsoe scored 21. Even Jason Terry showed he had a pulse, scoring 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting from deep. The game went to overtime on a thunderous Jonas Valanciunas dunk, but the Bucks pushed ahead in the final frame to steal the victory.
For a Bucks team that struggled against the league’s best, it was an important win to show them that they could handle the big games. On the other hand, it was the latest in a season-long trend of maddening inconsistency. Milwaukee wins games it shouldn’t, and loses games it shouldn’t, and ends up stuck in the wheel of mediocrity. But for one night in Toronto, the victory was sweet.