J-Speaks: Bucks Steal Game 1 of ECF Thanks To Lopez

For the first three quarters in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the visiting Toronto Raptors had the No. 1 Seeded Milwaukee Bucks on the ropes and were on the verge of stealing home court advantage from them. Things changed in the fourth period not because of the play of the Kia MVP to be, but because of the playoff career-high scoring performance by an under-the-radar signing back in the summer of 2018.

After trailing by as many as 13 points at one point in Game 1, the Bucks outscored the Raptors 32-17 in the fourth quarter, with 13 of those 32 points coming from veteran Brook Lopez, who averaged just 5.4 points on 29 percent from the floor in the Semifinals against the Celtics finished with a playoff career-high 29 points with 11 rebounds and four block shots on 12 for 21 shooting, including four connections from three-point range in helping the Bucks to a 108-100 win versus the Raptors on Wednesday night to take a 1-0 series lead. 

Kia MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo added 24 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, three block shots and two steals. Malcolm Brogdon add 15 points off the bench, going 3 for 6 from three-point range. Nikola Mirotic chipped in with 13 points and six boards, despite going 3 for 9 from the field. Despite going just 4 for 12 from the field, including 1 for 6 from three-point range, first-time All-Star Khris Middleton had a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Bucks, who earned their first win in the Eastern Conference Finals since winning Game 6 in the 2001 series versus the Philadelphia 76ers on June 1, 2001. 

“It was a complete team effort, you know,” Lopez, who finished 12 for 21 shooting, including 4 for 11 from three-point range said to NBA on TNT’s Kristen Ledlow after the win. “We’ve been playing with pretty good energy. Pretty good defense the whole game. Shots just weren’t going down for us and we needed that.”

“So, we just knew we had to keep grinding. Keep grinding. That’s what we’ve been doing all season long.” 

Trailing 100-98 late in the fourth quarter, head coach Mike Budenholzer’s team closed the game on a 10-0 run the last 3:30, that was ignited by a steal by Middleton on the Raptors Danny Green, which led to a Lopez’s dunk on Raptors’ Kyle Lowry that ignited a 9-0 run to close the game. That was followed by a three-pointer on the Bucks next possession b Lopez that put the Bucks ahead 104-100. 

During that closing run, the Raptors were held scoreless, missing their final eight shot attempts from the floor.  

While Raptors All-Star lead guard Kyle Lowry had a stellar performance scoring 14 of his 30 points in the fourth period going 10 for 15 from the field, including a playoff career-high 7 made threes in nine tries with eight rebounds in 40 minutes, fellow All-Star and two Kia Defensive Player Kawhi Leonard had 31 points, nine rebounds and three steals in 42 minutes, but had just two points in the fourth quarter. 

Lowry was 5 for 7 shooting in route to his 14-point fourth quarter output but the rest of the Raptors were 0 for 15 in the final period as the Bucks, who were 9 for 18 shooting in the final period held the Raptors to 37 percent shooting on the night. They also outrebounded them 60-48, including 15-8 on the offensive glass; had 11 block shots and went 23 for 27 from the free throw line and had just 12 turnovers. In just the fourth period alone, the Bucks outrebounded the Raptors 18-6 and outscored them in the paint 8-2. 

Kia Most Improved Player to be in Pascal Siakam for the Raptors was the only other player in double-figures with 15 points but was just 6 for 20 from the floor on the night as the Raptors could not hold the seven-point lead (83-76) they had entering the fourth period. 

To put into perspective how the Raptors’ bench was missing in action in the Game 1 loss, Brogdon outscored the visitors’ reserves of Serge Ibaka, Fred VanVleet and Norman Powell by himself 15-10. The Raptors other two starters in Green and starting center Marc Gasol combined for just 12 points on 3 for 16 shooting, with all three field goals coming from three-point range in 11 tries. 

“I think the way guys competed and got after it defensively in the second half, in particularly in the fourth quarter, you know, just stands out to me,” Coach Budenholzer, whose team improved to 9-0 this postseason when scoring 100-plus points said after the win. “You know, the depth-Malcolm coming off the bench and playing the way he did, and just all the guys we get contributing. Big game from Brook on both ends of the court.” 

“We feel like we can get better. You know, to get this win after a pretty significant days without playing I think hopefully well be better between now and Game 2.” 

That is how the Bucks, who trailed for 37 of the 48 minutes on Wednesday night overcame 39.8 percent shooting in Game 1, including 11 for 44 from three-point range. They also overcame off nights as mentioned from Mirotic, Middleton and starting lead guard Eric Bledsoe, who scored just nine points with two assists on 3 for 12 shooting, including 0 for 6 from three-point range.  

The Bucks also in this come-from-behind victory learned from their series opening loss in the Semis versus the Celtics in Game 1, where they lost 112-90 back on Apr. 28, even though they won the next four games to win the series 4-1. 

“You know, we learned to just never hang our heads-never give up, and we haven’t all season” Lopez said to Ledlow about the important lesson they learned from Game 1 loss versus the Celtics in Semis. “We just came out and like I said, they hit us, but we stuck with it. We stuck together. Kept playing as a team and kept playing defense.” 

That focus and unflappable determination is what the likes of Lopez, Mirotic George Hill, Ersan Ilyasova and Pat Connaughton, who were signed back in the 2018 off-season or acquired during the regular-season have brought to the Bucks and that is a big reason why they are now three wins away from their first NBA Finals appearance since winning it all in 1971, led by Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson, who was in attendance for Game 1 at Fiserv Forum. 

Lopez, who signed a one-year deal during the off-season has not only brought a steadiness to the team, but he has also brought three-point shooting, shot blocking and a player who on occasion can provide inside scoring, which he put on full display in the Game 1 victory. 

“The thing that does stand out is, you know, the put backs. You know, the stuff around the basket-particularly in the first half. We were kind of struggling for scoring and just anything offensively and he was able to kind of manufacture a couple of things and obviously in the second half, you know the threes and the spread that he gives us,” Coach Budenholzer said of Lopez’s performance. “And defensively I thought he was there several times in the fourth quarter making blocks, making big time contest, rebounding. Certainly, in a big moment that was a great Brook Lopez tonight.” 

He is also a perfect example of a player who evolved his game to fit in today’s NBA to as mentioned earlier, he can spread the floor with his ability to make threes consistently. So much so, that he has become adept at making step back triples. 

More than anything he has brought a perspective on what winning a game like this means going forward in a series against an opponent that will for sure be more ready to perform and try to knot the series at 1-1 in Game 2 tonight at 8:30 p.m. eastern time on TNT. 

“Regardless of what happens, we have to keep playing with energy, and keep competing. That’s the bottom line,” Lopez said to Ledlow about what the Bucks need to do the remainder of this series. “Regardless of whether the ball goes in or goes out, whatever. They call fouls, they don’t, gotta keep playing hard and keep competing.”

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 5/15/19 8:30 p.m. “Toronto Raptors versus Milwaukee Bucks,” Game 1 of Eastern Conference Finals on TNT, presented by Google, Pixel with Marv Albert, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, and Kristen Ledlow; 5/15/19 11 p.m. edition of “Inside the NBA,” presented by Kia on TNT with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal; and https://www.nba.com/games/20190515/TORMIL#/boxscore/matchup/recap.