Toronto lose to the Bucks
So much for the win against Minnesota serving as a morale booster…
The Raps lost ugly to the Milwaukee Bucks, 92-74, in a game the Raptors shot 36% (31 for 86) and missed all 10 of their 3-point shots. They also turned the ball over 12 times, led by Calderon with 6 turnovers of his own. Calderon had an extremely poor game, as he was 2-15 from the floor with 6 points and 7 assists. Following a 19-assist night against Minnesota, Calderon never seemed comfortable with the ball and made many uncharacteristic ball handling and passing errors.
The Raptors were led by an inefficient 23 points and 5 rebounds from Andrea Bargnani, (9-21 from the field) and a solid night from Demar Derozan in which he scored 18 points and 7 rebounds. (9-13 shooting)
Leandro Barbossa made his return to the Raptors, giving them a much-needed boost off the bench. It was definitely a sign of the tough times the Raps have been facing as Triano was forced to play Barbossa almost 25 minutes in his first game back. Barbossa scored 8 points from 4-11 shooting. When he was on the floor, he often looked like felt he needed to carry the secondary unit.
Milwaukee benefited from a balances scoring attack, led by 17 points from John Salmons. Corey Maggette also added 16 points and 9 rebounds for the Bucks.
The Raptors begin a four game home stand on Wednesday as San Antonio comes into town. San Antonio, the best team in the NBA, is currently 43-8. The rest of the home stand included games against Portland, the LA Clippers, and mark your calendars folks. Miami and Chris Bosh make their first visit to Toronto this season on February 16th.
Game notes:
Jerryd Bayless missed yet another game with a sprained right knee. He is still day-to-day.
Toronto is 0-6 when shooting below 40 percent.
Toronto is in the midst of 10 game road losing streak.
