Toronto Raptors Case Study
The Toronto Raptors (50-31) begin their march back to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks (42-39). The Raptors are the more talented team top- to-bottom and boast a much stronger ORTG and DRTG at 6th and 8th in the league respectively. Comparatively, the Bucks are only 16th in ORTG and 18th in DRTG. However, the Bucks may have the best player in the series, the “Greek Freak” Giannis Antetokounmpo. Giannis is in the midst of a breakout season with "Freakish" averages of 22.9 PPG, 8 RPG, 5.4 APG, 1 SPG and 1.9 BPG. Alternatively, the Raptors possess in my opinion the best point guard in the eastern conference Kyle Lowry. Lowry was enjoying a career-best season, averaging 22 PPG 5 RPG 7 APG 2 SPG and a scorching hot 42% from
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They are a team that runs deep and has the second most talent in the Eastern Conference. For the Bucks, I think their experience or lack thereof will be extremely noticeable on the road and I expect some sloppy stretches from them on offense. Especially if the Raptors can force them into a slow, grind-it-out half-court game. Also, I expect Lowry torch the Bucks just like he did during the 3 regular season games. In those games, he put up 23 ppg on 50% FG and a crazy hot 54% from 3. Another big advantage for the Raptors is in the pick and roll. The Raptors lead the NBA in PPP in pick and roll ball handler finishes at .95. The Bucks give up 48% EFG in those situations, so expect a lot of pick and roll drives by Lowry, DeRozan, and Joseph. Unfortunately for the Bucks they are just not deep enough and don't really match up well with the Raptors. As the Raptors can also match their small ball lineups with really good small ball units of their own. For the Bucks to have any chance to win, they will need to hit their 3 point shots at a strong clip and Giannis will need to have a huge series on both ends of the floor. I expect a superb series from Giannis, but in the end, the Raptors should be able to overwhelm the young and inexperienced Bucks. I think the Bucks will win one of their home games but that's about it. I would not expect a very competitive series in this
They are a team that runs deep and has the second most talent in the Eastern Conference. For the Bucks, I think their experience or lack thereof will be extremely noticeable on the road and I expect some sloppy stretches from them on offense. Especially if the Raptors can force them into a slow, grind-it-out half-court game. Also, I expect Lowry torch the Bucks just like he did during the 3 regular season games. In those games, he put up 23 ppg on 50% FG and a crazy hot 54% from 3. Another big advantage for the Raptors is in the pick and roll. The Raptors lead the NBA in PPP in pick and roll ball handler finishes at .95. The Bucks give up 48% EFG in those situations, so expect a lot of pick and roll drives by Lowry, DeRozan, and Joseph. Unfortunately for the Bucks they are just not deep enough and don't really match up well with the Raptors. As the Raptors can also match their small ball lineups with really good small ball units of their own. For the Bucks to have any chance to win, they will need to hit their 3 point shots at a strong clip and Giannis will need to have a huge series on both ends of the floor. I expect a superb series from Giannis, but in the end, the Raptors should be able to overwhelm the young and inexperienced Bucks. I think the Bucks will win one of their home games but that's about it. I would not expect a very competitive series in this