TORONTO — The Toronto Raptors don’t win 106-100 Tuesday night, levelling their opening-round series with the Milwaukee Bucks at a game apiece, without a lot of contributions. Chief among them: DeMar DeRozan’s 23 points and Kyle Lowry’s 22.
But this was a game in which five Raptors scored in double digits. In which the team had 24 assists on 37 made field goals. In which head coach Dwane Casey went 10 players deep into his roster during a playoff game that featured zero garbage time.
That’s a well-rounded effort, and it’s worth addressing some of the players who played key roles during this game but didn’t wind up on a podium after it.
First up: defensive specialists P.J. Tucker and Patrick Patterson. They played 28 and 30 minutes, respectively, but combined for only 10 shots, opting instead to focus on executing the under-appreciated dirty work that’s paramount to any successful team. Scrambling to help on defence, setting strong screens, spacing the floor—DeRozan and Lowry can’t do what they do without all of it.
“Sometimes, the stats don’t show it. But they both played very well,” said Raptors point guard Cory Joseph. “We’re going to continue to need them to do that the next couple games.”
Speaking of Joseph, the backup point guard was another key contributor off the bench, scoring 11 points in his 18 minutes, while chasing Bucks guards Malcolm Brogdon and Matthew Dellavedova all over the floor.
With Lowry and DeRozan drawing plenty of double teams in the first half, Joseph emerged as a secondary scoring threat, especially from beyond the arc. He hit a three on his first offensive possession, after DeRozan forced the ball through a trap to Tucker, who found Joseph unguarded in the corner.
Joseph hit two more in the first half, including one in the second quarter that should have come with a foul as he was bumped by Brogdon with no call. The Raptors guard worked diligently on his three-point shot last summer and continued to fine tune it throughout the season. Tuesday night he got to show off all his hard work.
“They’re keying in on Kyle and DeMar. So, we hit a couple shots when they found us,” Joseph said. “If I’m open, no hesitation. I’m just going to let it fly. They’ve been doubling off me. So, today I got to let a couple go.”
Third-string guard Delon Wright played an important role in Tuesday’s game as well, logging 8 1/2 minutes in the second quarter. It was a bit of a surprise to see him walk to the scorer’s table so early in the game. But Casey had told Wright beforehand to expect some run.
“It was the plan coming in,” Casey said. “I thought that he could come in and create. And he did a heck of a job.”
Wright earned every minute he played, injecting some much needed energy into a Raptors team that was creeping into a bit of a lull as the game wore on, scrambling around the court constantly looking for work.
He picked up an assist on his first offensive possession—dishing to Patterson for a three–and had a team-high three helpers by the end of the quarter. Wright’s best find was his third, when he darted under the Milwaukee basket, drew a couple defenders, and rifled a hard pass out to Joseph who had a clean look from beyond the arc.
Wright was playing so well that Casey rolled with his hyperactive guard from the point he checked in straight through to halftime. The Bucks weren’t quite sure what to do with Wright, who at one point ambushed three Milwaukee defenders under their own basket and stole an offensive rebound before setting up Lowry with a close-range two.
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“I thought he did an excellent job of coming in and creating shots, creating opportunities,” Casey said. “I thought he did as good of a defensive job as you can with Dellavedova and Brogdon. He and Norm [Powell] and Jakob [Poeltl] are going to have a place in this series before its over.”
Which brings us, finally, to Poeltl, the 21-year-old centre who earned some first-half run as Serge Ibaka worked through a stubbornly tight ankle. Poeltl played a little under four minutes, helping bridge the Raptors to the second quarter.
There’s only so much a guy can do in four minutes, but Poeltl still found a way to get open in the final 60 seconds of the quarter as the Bucks rushed to trap DeRozan. Poeltl darted under the basket as DeRozan got the ball to Tucker, who in turn got the ball to the Raptors rookie for an easy finish.
“Those guys came in and they were ready to play,” Joseph said of Wright and Poeltl. “We were moving the ball well. Playing a little bit more aggressive. Getting into the lane, which allowed us to get freer on the perimeter. It’s just about finding the right passes and knocking down shots.”
