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TORONTO — How much meaning can you gain from a home win over a 26-victory team playing for the second night in a row?
It should simply be a case of taking care of business for a self-respecting playoff team, but the Toronto Raptors' 111-93 win over the Milwaukee Bucks was cold water on a hot day for Toronto, which won for the first time in four starts after three consecutive losses against losing teams. Not exactly a convincing playoff push.
It's not everything, but it's a start.
"It was getting back to ground zero for us, getting back to the things we do well," Raptors captain Chris Bosh said. "We did a great job on the defensive end, we made them shoot jump shots. They got hot for a little while, but eventually those contested jump shots started missing and we gave them one shot. As long as we're checking their shots and they're not getting in that paint, they can shoot all night."
Former Raptor Charlie Villanueva celebrates after scoring a basket. (Adrian Wyld/CP)
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- Milwaukee Bucks
- Toronto Raptors
- Andrea Bargnani
- Chris Bosh
- T.J. Ford
- Jamario Moon
- Jamario Moon
- Anthony Parker
- Damon Stoudamire
- Charlie Villanueva
Toronto did have to weather a blistering shooting night by former teammate Charlie Villanueva, as the former Raptor had a season-best 38 points, sparked by a 7-for-12 night from the three-point line.
"I always have this extra boost when I come to Toronto, I don't know why," Villanueva said. "I played well, but I don't like losing. I played well, but we lost and I would rather win."
With four regular-season games to play, Toronto is 38-38, but remains the seventh seed in Eastern Conference as the Philadelphia 76ers won last night to stay a half-game up.
The Raptors asserted control in the third quarter, outscoring Milwaukee 33-20 after finally getting some respite from Villanueva, who scored 27 points in the first half, but just two in the third quarter as the Raptors made a point of sticking with him on the perimeter.
Five Raptors scored as Toronto used a 19-5 surge to take control.
The Raptors were led by Bosh, who erupted for 32 points and 11 rebounds as Toronto shot 53.1 per cent from the floor and perhaps most impressively counted 29 assists to just six turnovers. Villanueva was a one-man gang for the Bucks as Michael Redd was the only other Milwaukee starter in double figures, finishing with 17, as they were held to 42-per-cent shooting.
The Bucks were just proxies for Toronto's real opponents: Their own bruised psyches.
Having lost three games in a row, four of five and 15 of 21, the discussion the during their three-day break between games was centred on the need to find the good team they're still convinced lies within. Adrift at sea, a win over Milwaukee was the kind of driftwood they needed to begin their trip back to solid footing.
"I think it affects us a lot," Bosh said. "It wasn't like we squeaked it out or anything. In the second half, we pretty much dominated them. We played good defence, we ran out, we moved the ball well and we gave them fits on offence. We have to continue to play team basketball on both ends."
The playoff urgency didn't come across early. The Raptors hit just one of their first seven shots and three of their first 10, while coughing up three turnovers. Fortunately, the Bucks were good on just two of their first 13 shots, with four turnovers.
The only Buck who seemed to come to play was Villanueva, the former Raptor who was traded for T.J. Ford in the summer of 2006 after Toronto drafted Andrea Bargnani.
Villanueva scored Milwaukee's first 11 points in the first quarter, but was only getting loose before erupting for 16 straight at the end of the first and start of the second, his 27 points matching the Raptors' total and helping Milwaukee to a 31-27 lead with 81/2 minutes left in the half, scoring 10 of his 22 first-half points to give the Raptors the lead at the break.
The only down note, for Bosh at least, was the crowd. The 18,569 broke a stretch of nine consecutive sellouts at the Air Canada Centre, but it wasn't the number Bosh was worried about. It was the volume.
"Could you hear yourself talk?" Bosh said when asked about the murmuring crowd.
"I'm excited," he added. "I don't know if anyone else is excited, but I'm not waiting for [the playoffs] next week. I'm trying to do it right now. That's the mentality the whole organization has to take, the whole building has to take. … If the crowd just reacts, it's a tough place to play. We go to Dallas, Utah, Cleveland, Detroit and it's loud and it really makes a difference."
