Bucks vs Raptors Preview Things to look for tonight-

8 Games in 13 Days- The Raptor “Bookends”

The 24-13 Milwaukee Bucks take on the 16-21 Toronto Raptors in a nationally televised game on ESPN. (Tip is 6:30pm) The Bucks are on a back-to-back having beaten the Wizards 123-113. Toronto played on Monday Jan. 2nd, losing to the Pacers 122-114.

Milwaukee is going to have its depth tested in January with 8 games in 13 days. Milwaukee plays Toronto again, in Milwaukee, on Jan.17th to cap the long run.

If the playoffs started tomorrow Toronto would not be in, in any way, shape or form. (Not even the play-in round.) The Raptors have made the playoffs in each of the past seven seasons. They are off to a slow start.

Toronto won the NBA Championship in the 2018-2019 season.

Vegas has the Raptors as slight favorites -3.0 That is simply due to the back-to-back and the uncertainty if Giannis and Jrue will play. Milwaukee, as a franchise, has expressed disgust at playing in back-to-backs. It is easy to see why. 8 games in 13 days is a tough task.

Related: Bucks rookie can be a game wrecker

Bucks keys

Score over 117 points

When the Bucks lost to the Wizards they only scored 95 points. That felt like an aberration. When they beat Washington they scored 123. That felt “right”.

When Milwaukee beat Minnesota they scored 123; when they lost to Chicago they only scored 113. (Hopefully you see the pattern.)

There seems to be something to that 117 point mark lately. The Bucks, so far in the 2022-2023 season average 112.7 points as a team. If they can get to 117, that bodes well for the Bucks.

Continue to get strong interior play

The Bucks fell out of the top spot in the NBA in terms of team rebounding. They currently are second in a statistically dead heat with Memphis. (The Bucks are also fifth in the NBA in blocked shots.) They are getting excellent interior play from Lopez, Bobby Portis and Giannis. If they keep that up, Toronto will be very overmatched.

The Opponent: The Toronto Raptors

Toronto is still a good basketball team in spite of their below average record. What has seemed to slow them down this season is that a few guys haven’t made the transition from good player to “star”. The NBA is a “superstar” league.

Scottie Barnes is a good example of that. (14/7/4) Barnes is in his second year and plays a ton. But his season scoring average is slightly below his rookie year’s average and he has been very streaky. He seems to be on the verge of being a star. He is just not there yet.

Fred VanVleet is a great player. (18/3/6) He just has not materialized into a star. His scoring numbers are good. But he takes a ton of shots and occasionally turns the ball over too much.

Pascal Sikam is arguably one of the better players in the NBA no one seems to talk about. He is 14th in the NBA in scoring (26.1 a game) and is a good passer (6.7 assists per game). When he “goes off”, the Raptors tend to win.

Otto Porter Jr., the 3rd overall pick in the 2013 draft, has been very little help to Toronto this year. He has struggled with injuries.

Things to tell your buddies as you are watching the game

The career scoring leader for the Toronto Raptors is DeMar DeRozan with 13,296 points. He also leads the franchise in games, minutes played and missed field goals.
Chris Bosh is the career leader for the Raptors in rebounding.
On this date ten years ago (2013) the Toronto Raptors were 12-20. The Milwaukee Bucks, on Jan. 4th 2013 were 16-14.
The career scoring leader for the Milwaukee Bucks is Giannis Antetokounmpo with 15,283 points.
I hope the reference at the beginning is clear. Bookends are those things you put on a shelf to kinda group books together. On Wednesday, Jan. 18th, all of the Bucks players, coaches and personnel deserve a day off. To play Toronto tonight, play six more games both home and away, and then play Toronto again on Jan. 17th is a heck of a run.

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