10 and Counting

As you already know the Raptors come into this game as the losers of 9 straight games and are looking to end this skid before it enters Cavaliers territory. The Bucks on the other hand won their last game and were looking to make it two consecutive wins. The Bucks are also the lowest scoring team in the league while the Raptors are one of the highest scoring. So in a match-up of two opposite teams, who would walk away with the victory? Hopefully Rob Base and James could bring the Raptors some luck tonight and help them put an end to this losing skid. It's also Fan Night at the ACC, so the fans would really like to see the Raptors get the win as well.

This quarter started off with both teams going back and forth trading baskets. The Raptors opened the scoring off a Bargnani jumper, but the Bucks would quickly respond with a Bogut basket to tie the game 2-2. Amir would put the Raps up 5-4 off an And-1 play, but Chris Douglas-Roberts would give the Bucks the lead once again. This would be the trend for several more minutes until the Bucks would eventually start to pull away near the end. Amir was looking great early with 5 points and 4 boards in 5 minutes, while DeMar seemed to be struggling and he would eventually have to sit on the bench for a while after picking up his 2nd foul, both of which were offensive. For the Bucks, Andrew Bogut was looking unstoppable as he was dunking like crazy and helped the Bucks pull away to gain a 10 point game at the end of the quarter. Amir led the Raps with 7 points and 5 boards while Bogut totaled 11 points on 6/7 shooting from the field. For a team that came into this game as the lowest scoring team in the league the Raptors defense was certainly making them look like an offensive force early.

The Raptors would come out in the 2nd with a lot more energy and score 10 straight points to tie the game, led by Jose, Weems and Ajinca. Bogut would stop the bleeding and give the Bucks a 2 point lead. The back and forth trend would kick in once more as both teams would once again trade a series on jumpers, before Ed Davis would give the Raps the lead once more at the 7:13 mark. The recently signed Alexis Ajinca was also making his presence felt and having himself quite a game hitting several jumpers and being a force on the defensive end. He would record 10 points in the quarter. DeMar who was struggling thus far would give the Raps a 4-point lead which was their biggest of the night, of an 18 foot jumper. This lead would get to as much as 8, but the Bucks would battle back, led by Corey Maggette and only trail by 2 at halftime.

Maggette was the Bucks leading scorer at the half with 16 while Ajinca lead the Raps with 10. DeMar and Bargnani wee pretty much silent in that first half so maybe Rob Base's performance at halfime would motivate them in the second half.

Seems like a little Rob Base was all Bargnani needed as he was first to score in the third off, while getting fouled in the process for the And-1. He would make the FT. Bogut would score soon after to cut the lead to 3 points. Once again the back and forth effect would appear and both teams stated trading buckets again. The Bucks would make several surges to take the lead, but the Raps would respond every time and stop the bleeding. Douglas-Roberts would then tie the game at 84 apiece before Amir once again put the Raptors on top by 2. DeRozan was still struggling and would pick up anoter 2 quick fouls, one of which was a questionable offensive foul, and would have to sit once more. After the Bucks once again cut the Raptors lead to one Triano would wisely call a timeout to try and get his team together as the momentum was shifting. This didnt seem to work as Delfino would give the Bucks the lead and they would go on a 14-4 run to end to quarter up 81-78. This doesn't fare for the Raptors as they are 3-27 when trailing after 3 quarters, but would it be different tonight.

Milwaukee would come out firing in the 4th and put the lead to 8 points. A pair of Weems FT's would cut the lead to 6, but Delfino would hit a 3 to push the lead to 9. This lead would peak at 10 as the Raps would always have a response to the Bucks and didn't allow the lead to reach that make again. The Bucks last field goal of the quarter would come at the 2:03 mark off the quarter on a Maggette jumper to put his team up 104-97. The Raptors would then score the last 7 points of the quarter to tie the game with 18.3 seconds left. The tying points came off a pair of Amir FT's. The Raptors had an earlier opportunity to tie the game as they had the numbers gain in transition, but Triano would foolishly call a timeout and thus that opportunity was missed. The Bucks would have to ball for the final possession and have a chance to win the game, but Delfino would lose the ball out of bounds and just like that the Raptors had a chance to win the game with 2.8 seconds left. With a chance to win this game and end the streak, the Raptors would turn to Andrea Bargnani for the final shot, but he would miss a 19-foot jumper and thus this game was sent into overtime.

So the Raptors had yet another chance to win this game and end their 9-game losing streak. OT would start off with 6 consecutive point by Andrew Bogut and ust like that it seemed like the Raptors chances were slipping away, but their resiliency kicked in and they were able to score 6 straight points of their own, 2 by Amir and 4 by DeRozan and we once again had a tied game at 110 apiece. Maggette would hit a three to give the Bucks a 3-point lead, the Raptors would then fail to score and Delfino made 1 of his 2 FT's to give the Bucks a 4-point lead and that was the end of the game, with the final score being 116-110 after a few more Bucks FT's. So the Raptors losing skid has now reached 10 games, but they have a chance to end the skid at 10 as they take on the T-Wolves tomorrow night in Minnesota.

Corey Maggette led the Bucks with 29 points and 10 rebounds, while Andrew Bogut and Ersan Ilyasova chipped in with 25 and 24 points respectively. Amir Johnson paced the Raptors with 24 points and 12 boards and Bargnani added 23.