Toronto Raptors: 3 takeaways from historic Game 6 win vs Bucks

The Toronto Raptors are the 2019 NBA Eastern Conference Champions after a huge comeback win against the Milwaukee Bucks, 100-94.

The Toronto Raptors won the most important game in the franchise’s 24 years of existence against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Raptors are the 2019 NBA Eastern Conference Champions and clinched an NBA Finals berth, both franchise firsts.

Like for most of this postseason run, the Raptors were led by their superstar Kawhi Leonard during Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. He was sensational on both ends of the floor contributing 27 points, a career-high 17 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks on 9-for-22 shooting. His frontcourt partner Pascal Siakam was great in this game having posted 18 points, four rebounds, a steal and a block on 7-for-17 shooting.

The team’s vocal leader, Kyle Lowry put out everything for his team, contributing 17 points, eight assists, five rebounds and a steal — which led to the play of the game — on 6-of-10 shooting. The players coming off the bench for the Raptors played one of their best collective playoff performances led by Fred VanVleet, who posted 14 points on a super efficient 5-for-6 shooting night, including four makes from deep. The Raptors’ bench outscored the Bucks’, 32-23.

For the Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo was good, but not great in a game the team needed him the most. He still produced a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds, but was inefficient in the final moments, shooting 1-of-5 in the fourth quarter and 5-for-10 from the charity stripe overall. Giannis was one of two players for his team to have a positive net rating after the game.

Brook Lopez was great in the fourth quarter for the Bucks, helping them close the gap on the Raptors’ momentous lead. He had a near double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds, including two offensive boards on 5-for-12 shooting. Khris Middleton, who started the game shooting lights out, was held to mediocrity in the second half, contributed 14 points, four rebounds and four from deep on 5-for-13 shooting from the field.

The Bucks came into the sold-out Scotiabank Arena with energy and relentlessness. With their season on the line, they had to, and due to a few missed open shots from the opposition, they found themselves with a commanding lead at the end of the first quarter. They led by as many as 15 points in the first frame. Similar to Game 5, the Raptors had a response to the Bucks in the second quarter, cutting the deficit to seven to end the half, 43-50.

The Bucks shot 50.0 percent from deep in the first half, something the TNT analysts predicted wouldn’t be sustainable for the second half. They were right, as the Bucks shot 3-for-16 from beyond the arc for the rest of the game. In the third quarter, the Bucks had all the momentum after building their lead to as many as 15 for the second time in the game.

The Raptors would not go down in front of their rowdy home crowd inside and outside the arena. They won the quarter, 28-26, dwindling the Bucks lead down to five to start the fourth. The Raptors did something in the start of the fourth quarter that rarely happened in the earlier postseason games, they built a lead without Leonard on the floor.

The Lowry and Siakam plus bench unit was too much for the Bucks in the fourth, completely taking control of the game building their lead by as much as eight. The rest of the final possessions were slow and the game was close, but thanks to some clutch threes from Leonard, FVV, and Marc Gasol, the team was able to hold off for the win.

In doing so, the Raptors clinched an NBA Finals appearance against the reigning two-time champions, the Golden State Warriors. Here are the takeaways from the historic Game 6 win.