Raptors cruise by Bucks to snap five-game losing streak
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E-mail Xinhua, January 28, 2017
Toronto Raptors ended their five-game winless streak with a 102-86 victory over Milwaukee Bucks in Friday evening's NBA game.
With the win, Toronto improves to 29-18 on the season and 16-8 at Air Canada Centre, which has been sold out for a franchise-record 115 consecutive regular season and playoff games.
Raptors guard Kyle Lowry scored a game-high 32 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field, including three three-pointers. The 30-year-old native of Philadelphia was named an All-Star for a third straight season yesterday.
Toronto was without DeMar DeRozan, their other All-Star, who has missed three straight games due to a sprained right ankle sustained in their Jan. 22 loss to Phoenix. DeRozan is leading the team in scoring averaging 27.9 points per game.
Filling in for DeRozan is sophomore guard Norman Powell, who has scored in double-digits all three games, averaging 18.7 points on 46.2 percent shooting. In Friday's victory, Powell chipped in with 19 points and six rebounds.
Raptors head coach Dwane Casey never doubted his team and believed they would snap out of the losing skid sooner rather than later.
"Everybody has their own philosophy and feelings about what's wrong and what's right, what we should have been doing, what we're not doing," said Casey after the game. "It's about going out and playing, guys just don't forget how to play basketball."
Casey's squad were in control the whole game. After taking a 15-13 lead in the middle of the first quarter, Raptors never relinquished the lead. Milwaukee would cut the deficit to as low as seven points by the end of the third quarter before the game was back to double-digits.
"Tonight was an overall team effort. Everybody stepped up and played a big role in the last couple of games, so we understand what we have to do and tonight," said Lowry after the game. "We played hard. We needed to get out of the losing streak and everyone felt that."
Toronto's defence held Milwaukee to 31-for-80 (38.8 percent) from the field, the sixth time all season the team has held an opponent below 40 percent. The 86 points allowed was also the fewest points the team has allowed in the last 20 games.
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