Milwaukee Bucks beat the Toronto Raptors 93-86 at the Bradley Centre
April 12, 2011. John Salmons grabbed the night with 24 points and seven rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks managed to overcome the Toronto Raptors 93-86, in the fourth quarter on Monday night.
Brandon Jennings chipped in 21 points and six rebounds while Drew Gooden ended with 19 points, 11 boards and five assists.
Michael Redd, whose contract will finish by the end of the season, did not contribute much in potentially his last home game for the season. He was able to score only two points on 1-for-6 shooting. After being the face by which
the Bucks were recognized for the last six years, Redd has been plagued with career threatening knee injuries for the last two seasons. Plating mostly off the bench during the stretch, Redd has been a shadow of himself. The mercurial player however said that
he didn’t realize that this will be his last game for the Bucks.
"I haven't," Redd said. "Before the game, people were mentioning it. I'm just focusing on being healthy and trying to win a ballgame tonight, so I wasn't really focusing on it too much. I know the connection here is special between
myself, the city and the fans, so it's been an awesome 11 years."
The Raptors managed well till the start of the fourth quarter; until they let the Bucks avail three straight fast-break scores and lead the game. Jerryd Bayless of the Raptors scored 20 points and five assists while DeMar DeRozan
added 17 points. Ed Davis had 15 points and 11 rebounds while James Johnson scored 12. Forward Joey Dorsey managed 10 points with the season-high 20 boards.
Raptor`s coach Jay Triano remarked, "I think that's how the game went, we didn't drive as much in the second half as I would have liked,"
Game analysis
Ed Davis scored nine points for the Raptors in the first quarter as the home team grabbed a 33-25 lead, one they did not relinquish till the halftime.
The Bucks though tried hard to close the gap on the Raps in the second quarter and made it a five point game going into the locker room.
The see saw battle ensued in the third quarter. The Bucks continued to pitch a comeback in the game and outscored the Raps 23-20 in that period to make it 69-71.
The Raptors however bounced back and managed to lead by six, 77-71, within the first three minutes of the fourth quarter. In the next few minutes, the Bucks’ sprinted to 15-0 run and took charge of the game. The unanswered spurt
sparked the home team to an 86-77 advantage with 3:18 remaining on the clock.
The Raptors however just refused to die down. Davis made a three point to start the fight back; DeMar DeRozan followed it with a layup and 15 second later Bayless fired twice from the charity stripe as the Raptors pulled within
two with 1:33 to go in the game. However, Milwaukee went to a 9-2 run in the last minute of the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
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