Raptors 92, Bucks 89: Frantic comeback falls short in Game 6

A frantic comeback by the Milwaukee Bucks came up just short as they fell, 92-89, to the Toronto Raptors and were eliminated in their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series on Thursday night.

The Bucks seemed dead midway through the third quarter, trailing by 25 points in front of a quiet BMO Harris Bradley Center crowd.

But Milwaukee started forcing turnovers and scoring, twice taking the lead before the Raptors recovered just in time. Third-seeded Toronto won the final three games of the series and prevailed in six games, sending it to the Eastern Conference semifinals against defending NBA champion Cleveland.

Bucks coach Jason Kidd was gratified with the way his team responded in the fourth quarter, but Toronto went on 9-0 run after trailing, 82-80, on Greg Monroe's basket with 2:29 remaining.

"Both teams played their hearts out," Kidd said. "We always talk about the little things, and for us it comes down to free throws. It's not that hard. We don't need to overanalyze this; we got to the stripe and we just couldn't capitalize on that.

"It was a well-fought series. Both teams fought as hard as they could and Toronto was the better team."

The Bucks outscored the Raptors, 28-18, in the fourth quarter but hit just 9 of 18 free throws in the period.

But the Bucks went down swinging and listened to what Kidd told them on the bench after they fell so far behind.

"The one thing I said over and over when we were down, 'It's going to hurt if you want to win,'" Kidd said. "I think they understood after the game what that comment meant. I continued to say it as we came back. 'It's going to hurt, so just accept the pain if you want to win. If you don't want to accept the pain, then sit here on the bench and we'll put someone else in.' And those guys kept rising to the occasion.

"And it hurt, but it hurts to win in this league. They fought all year, not just in Game 6 but throughout the season. These guys never give up, and this is a perfect example of that."

BOX SCORE: Raptors 92, Bucks 89

D'AMATO: Bucks close gap on future

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a playoff-high 34 points while playing all but 81 seconds of the game, and Khris Middleton added 19 points and five assists despite being quite ill the last few days. But Antetokounmpo was 3 of 8 at the foul line in the fourth quarter and Middleton was 3 of 6.

"The opportunity presented itself and we played him as much as we could," Kidd said of the Greek Freak. "I thought he caused a problem when he was out there on the floor. We were down, and those guys that played in the second half fought. It was a great character game. We take the lead when most people thought the game was over. It just shows they are maturing and they didn't give up."

DeMar DeRozan paced Toronto with 32 points and Kyle Lowry had 13, and Raptors coach Dwane Casey was relieved his team held its composure against the Bucks' rally.

"We knew it wasn't going to be easy," Casey said. "To close out on the road is one of the hardest things to do in the NBA. We made it hard on ourselves with turnovers and not getting stops.

"We just kept fighting, kept scratching and kept competing. First of all, those guys (Bucks) did a heck of a job. They changed it up tonight, stopped blitzing as much and got us into more of a 1-on-1 game. We fell into the trap.

"They were missing free throws and they were getting to the paint. Our guys were gassed, also. We didn't have the toughness offensively to fight through some of the reaching and grabbing and bumping, and we knew it was going to be like that. My hat is off to Milwaukee, because their defensive toughness is going to be a thing to deal with in the future."

NOTES: Veterans Terry, Dellavedova show teammates the way

NBA: Playoff scoreboard, box scores, recaps

The Raptors trailed early as Antetokounmpo scored the first eight points for the Bucks and Milwaukee had a quick six-point lead.

But Toronto gradually took control and led, 51-38, at halftime behind 16 points from DeRozan. The Raptors shot 46.3% from the field (19 of 41) and limited the Bucks to 35.9% shooting (14 of 39).

The Bucks trailed by as many as 25 in the third quarter before going on a 15-3 run to end the quarter, getting the Bradley Center crowd to its feet.

Antetokounmpo, Matthew Dellavedova and Middleton made three-pointers and Tony Snell scored a layup to cut the Bucks’ deficit to 74-61 entering the final quarter.

Milwaukee kept coming in the fourth quarter, extending the run to 20-3 before Lowry scored off a scramble under the basket.

Kidd picked up a technical foul after a long discussion with referee Marc Davis and the Bucks went down by 12.

But a basket by Jason Terry in the lane and two free throws by Greg Monroe cut the deficit to 78-70.

Antetokounmpo then blocked a shot by DeRozan, and Dellavedova grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled. The Bucks guard hit 1 of 2 foul shots.

Antetokounmpo split 3 of 6 free throws as the Bucks kept forcing turnovers and getting fouled.

Middleton then drilled a three-pointer and was fouled by Norman Powell. The Bucks forward missed the free throw and Toronto still led, 78-77.

Terry then sank a three-pointer from the wing to give the Bucks an 80-78 lead with 3:06 remaining, prompting a Raptors timeout.

Monroe's close-range shot gave the Bucks an 82-80 lead, but Toronto went on its 9-0 run sparked by a go-ahead three-pointer from guard Cory Joseph.

DeRozan dunked with 48.7 seconds left after he got past Thon Maker and the Bucks' defensive help did not arrive in time. That gave Toronto an 87-82 lead.

Two free throws by Joseph made it 89-82, but Middleton was fouled by Serge Ibaka on a three-point try and made 2 of 3 free throws. Ibaka fouled out on the play.

A three-pointer by Terry cut the Bucks’ deficit to 89-87 with 19.4 seconds left and gave them renewed hope.

The Bucks fouled DeRozan and he made only 1 of 2 free throws, but instead of looking for a three-pointer, Antetokounmpo dunked with 3.5 seconds left.

Antetokounmpo said he needed to go earlier for the two-pointer or make sure the Bucks got a look at a game-tying three, knowing the team had no timeouts left.

Milwaukee fouled quickly, but DeRozan made both. Snell’s inbounds pass was stolen by Patrick Patterson and DeRozan threw the ball up in relief and celebration.

THREE TAKEAWAYS

1. Giannis Antetokounmpo played 23 minutes in the first half as the Bucks tried to stave off elimination. He scored the Bucks’ first eight points and had 18 at halftime, but Milwaukee trailed, 51-38. He wound up playing 47 minutes and was 13 of 23 from the floor and 7 of 13 at the foul line.

2. Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas was a plus-15 at halftime while playing just 13 minutes. He excelled as the screener on the pick-and-roll with DeMar DeRozan.

3. The Bucks were 1 of 9 from three-point range in the first half, with the only made three-pointer coming from Khris Middleton. They finally warmed up late and made 7 of 19 from distance.

BUCKS-RAPTORS SCHEDULE (All times Central)

Eastern Conference first-round series (best of seven)

Saturday, April 15 - Bucks 97, Raptors 83

Tuesday, April 18 - Raptors 106, Bucks 100

Thursday, April 20 - Bucks 104, Raptors 77

Saturday, April 22 - Raptors 87, Bucks 76

Monday, April 24 - Raptors 118, Bucks 93 

Thursday, April 27 - Raptors 92, Bucks 89 (Raptors win series, 4-2)