Inconsistent Raptors can't find a way to slow down short-handed Bucks

MILWAYKEE -- The simplest solution for what ails the Toronto Raptors – individually and collectively -- has always been to play better.

It’s happened in fits and starts lately, but not with any level of consistency that would allow the people who have to make decisions to have a firm grasp on what direction they should take before the Feb. 9 trade deadline and even next summer when so many of their key players will be free agents, extension eligible or one season away from one or the other.

So what to make of Toronto’s 130-122 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night? Milwaukee was without two stars -- Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kris Middleton. Both teams were on the second night of a back-to-back, albeit with both having played day games on Monday. The Raptors played well – in some cases quite well – but couldn’t squeeze out the win they needed and dropped to 20-25 (and 6-14 on the road) while Milwaukee improved to 29-16.

Fred VanVleet tied his season-high with 39 points (on 15-of-27 shooting; 6-of-11 from three) and added seven assists and nine rebounds in one of his best games of the season. Gary Trent Jr. had 28 (4-of-9 from three) and Pascal Siakam had 23 and nine assists, though he was 6-of-11 from the free throw line as the Raptors shot just 17-of-27 from there.

The positives weren't enough to make up for the flaws. The Bucks were led by Jrue Holiday’s 37 and Grayson Allen’s 25 while they were joined by four other Bucks in double figures as Milwaukee shot 53.5 per cent from the floor and a scorching 19-of-39 from deep.

“It felt like they would slow down at some point but they never did,” said VanVleet. “I have to look at the tape but it just felt like a lot of threes and kind of back-breaking plays, they just kept momentum pretty much the whole second half. They put it to us in the third a little bit there, got some separation and it was a coin-toss in the fourth and they made a couple more plays late.”

It was a back-and-forth game where defence varied between occasional and optional but was spirited enough to feature a scuffle midway through the fourth quarter that resulted in four technical fouls -- one each for O.G. Anunoby and Raptors assistant coach Jamaal Magloire -- and two for Bucks centre Brook Lopez, who was ejected with the Bucks leading by three at the time. In sum: Lopez knocked off Trent Jr’s headband; Anunoby intervened; Lopez tried to get back at Trent Jr. and Magloire get dinged for grabbing the Bucks’ Bobby Portis.

The Raptors pushed -- VanVleet scored three lay-ups and a triple in the minutes after Lopez went out -- but they couldn’t get the stops they needed.

Throughout all the discussion and the scenarios regarding the future of the team, there has been one constant message internally -- win and everything will take care of itself.

Keep losing? Well, Raptors president Masai Ujiri wasn’t in Paris last weekend seeing French phenom and projected first overall pick Victor Wembanyama so he could pile up some frequent flyer miles.

At least one Raptor who has been widely reported to be on the trade market has seemed to absorb the message or -- at the very least -- seems determined to do something about it.

VanVleet is not used to having his name rumoured as a potential player on the move but in the midst of sub-par season by his standards and with a chance to be a free agent this summer, the Raptors veteran might as well get used to it.

Is he being traded to Orlando? No. The Magic have the money to sign him in free agency if they want to, although Orlando did have one of its basketball operations staff members on hand in Milwaukee.

Is he going to Phoenix? Hard to see a fit there, either by trade or as a free agent. And would the Dallas Mavericks like to add VanVleet as a replacement for since departed Jalen Brunson?

Sure, but the do the Mavericks have players the Raptors want?

Will there be big deals? Small deals? What about Gary Trent Jr.?

The reality is the Raptors have the means to sign both players, both have done well with Toronto, and neither may have the market in free agency to have their wildest financial dreams come true.

But playing better is the first prerequisite for all concerned.

And whether it’s his back issues getting under control, his determination to quiet some doubters or the urge to -- under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden Monday or in a game broadcast on TNT across the U.S. last night -- remind people what he’s all about, VanVleet has had some of his strongest games of the season of late. 

After a poor showing at home in a loss against Atlanta on Saturday night, the Raptors point guard was listed as doubtful with back soreness for Monday’s afternoon start against the Knicks. Instead, VanVleet’s game was no doubt, as he outplayed the Knicks' $104 million point guard, Jalen Brunson, finishing with 33 points and eight assists.

“I think it’s just a competitive nature and drive,” said VanVleet. “You always get up for big matchups, that’s probably all it was. Just trying to be aggressive, help this team win as I start to find my groove a little bit. We didn’t come out with a win tonight unfortunately. Jrue had a big game … he’s one of the best in the league at the guard position, Jalen’s having a great year as well so you always try to get up for those games."

But for all their efforts, the Raptors defence kept putting them in holes.

For example: Joe Ingles is a fine player and proof of how a forward thinking front office can make moves around the margins to improve a championship core as the Bucks signed him as a free agent this past summer on the cheap. But if the 35-year-old wing -- who wasn’t the fleetest of foot before he missed a year with a torn ACL -- is able to fake his primary defender off his feet and then slo-mo his way all the way to the rim for a lay-up, well, maybe your team isn’t guarding hard enough, smart enough or well enough.

A lot went wrong for the Raptors during the first quarter, but Ingles driving the ball down main street is a pretty telling indictment of the whole thing. It wasn’t the only example. Holiday snake dribbling between Scottie Barnes and Siakam when Lopez set a screen for him just over halfcourt was another. He scored another largely uncontested lay-up a moment later.

Holiday is another excellent player, but the Raptors' lack of resistance was an issue.

Ingles finished the opening quarter with 10 points on three shots (and 15 points and eight assists for the game); Holiday had 13 on 5-of-7 shooting and -- guess what -- Milwaukee enjoyed a 44-34 lead to start the second quarter -- the short-handed Bucks having shot 16-of-24 from the floor and 8-of-10 from deep.

But VanVleet didn't let up. After already counting 13 points in the first quarter, VanVleet added nine points and three assists in the final half of the second quarter as Toronto stormed back from down 10 to go up 74-67 at half.

Yet the Raptors' larger structural issues aren’t easy to cover up. A team doesn’t end up near the bottom (28^th before visiting the Bucks) in opposition effective field goal percentage for the entire season without failing at some of the fundamentals of the game.

The defensive issues that plagued Toronto in the first quarter also were prominent in the second as the Bucks sprinted out to an 18-7 run to create some daylight, powered by a pair of threes from Lopez. From there, Grayson Allen got rolling as he hit a pair of triples before Lopez scored a pair in the paint.

The Raptors' resistance was minimal in all cases and the Bucks were up 10. VanVleet answered with his second of three of the quarter and Siakam got one to go too, but the Bucks still led 105-97 to start the fourth.

As has happened too often this season, the best the Raptors could do wasn’t good enough.