Another Uncompetitive 1st Half Sinks Raptors in Blowout Loss to Bucks

The Toronto Raptors once again came out flat but this time had no response in a blowout loss to the Milwaukee Bucks

It was easy to look at a pair of come-from-behind victories over the San Antonio Spurs and Washington Wizards earlier this season and get excited about the character of this Toronto Raptors team.

There’s a never-die attitude within this group. No matter the odds, they won’t quit. They’re tough. Relentless. 

But maybe, maybe, the other side of the coin deserves some attention too. 

What’s happening in the first half of these games? Why are the Raptors so regularly allowing teams to run away with games only to need these miraculous comebacks? Because for the fourth time this season, Toronto fell behind by 20 points and looked completely overmatched and outclassed. Only this time, there was no comeback as Toronto turned in their worst performance of this young season, getting blown out 128-112 by the Giannis Antetokounmpo-less Milwaukee Bucks.

"Trust me, we are thinking about it a lot, trying to figure that out," Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said of the team's first-half struggles. "I thought that we just did not have pop for whatever reason. I'm trying to detect it myself what was the reason for the slow start and slow reaction?"

He's not the only one without answers. 

"I don't know, to be honest, what the reason is," Jakob Poeltl said as he searched for his own answers. "The fact of the matter is that we're not coming out ready to play or I don't know if it's a lack of energy or lack of preparation. I don't know, but we just gotta find a way to be better. It's as simple as that."

For a team that’s been so defense-focused this season, Toronto had nothing going in the first half against the Bucks. Damian Lillard repeatedly blew past Toronto’s perimeter defense either drawing fouls or laying it in at the rim. When the Raptors did adjust, he took advantage of three Toronto defenders all in the paint only to hit Malik Beasley in the corner for a wide-open three.

It didn’t help that Toronto was once again up against a floor-spacing big in Brook Lopez who pulled Jakob Poeltl out of the paint, allowing Milwaukee to create defensive chaos for the Raptors’ defensive rotations. The Bucks shot 10-for-18 from three-point range in the first half with far too many of those shots coming on virtually uncontested looks.

"If those guys pop, we want to go into a late switch, and a lot of times it's late communication or lack of communication," Rajaković said of Poeltl taking on three-point shooting bigs. "We just don't get quickly enough to those guys and those guys are deadly."

Without Poeltl deterring shots in the paint, Lillard had 24 of his 37 points in the first half, carving up Toronto and getting to the line for 13 free-throw attempts before the break. He scored or assisted on 46 of the Bucks’ 70 first-half points, nearly equaling Toronto’s 47-point total in the first half.

Looking for any way to slow the Bucks' offense, Toronto opted to go with the versatile Precious Achiuwa to start the second half in place of Poeltl whose lack of mobility was proving problematic for the Raptors. It was the right idea, but not much changed for Toronto who only watched as the Bucks continued to pull away by as many as 33.

"I thought the Precious' switching in the first half was pretty solid, so we just wanted to give us a look to go together early in the third quarter," Rajaković said who acknowledged the offense's inability to generate points to start the third quarter forced him to revert back to Poeltl. 

The Raptors did mount a small comeback against what seemed like a disinterested Bucks team. Toronto’s offensive rebounding allowed the Raptors to claw back within 13, even outscoring the Bucks in the second half. But it was far too little too late and eventually Lopez and Cameron Payne ended any hope of a comeback with a pair of fourth-quarter threes from which Toronto couldn’t recover.

If there was any bright spot for the Raptors, it was Scottie Barnes who played well in an otherwise disappointing game for Toronto. He was relentless all night, trying to will Toronto to victory with 29 points on 11-for-19 shooting and added nine rebounds and seven assists.

Maybe this is just the new reality in an NBA that’s so focused on the three-point shot where 10-point leads can be erased in mere minutes and bad defensive possessions can spiral into a three-point barrage. But Toronto can’t keep turning in these uncompetitive first halves.

Whether it's a lack of energy, a lack of preparation, or something else, it needs to be addressed because comeback victories may be fun, but the fact that they're needed should be cause for some concern. 

Up Next: Boston Celtics

The Raptors will open their in-season tournament schedule at home on Friday night when the Boston Celtics come to town for a 7:30 p.m. ET tipoff.