Whenever you think of the Bucks winning a game, you assume that it’s Giannis Antetokounmpo who leads them to victory. Except that was not the case in Milwaukee’s 108-100 win in Game 1 of the conference finals.
The true MVP of this game was none other than Brook Lopez, the former NBA All-Star center who had supposedly peaked years ago with the Brooklyn Nets.
After the first half of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, the Toronto Raptors held a 59-51 lead over the Milwaukee Bucks and were looking sharp. Things changed quite a bit after the break as the Bucks overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to defeat the Raptors 108-100 and take a 1-0 series lead.
The Bucks trailed for the majority of the game but they turned on a switch with just under 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. They rode their dominance on the offensive glass — 15 to the Raptors’ eight — and a career-high playoff performance by Brook Lopez (29 points and 11 rebounds) to win their first conference finals game since June 1, 2001.
The Raptors received a 30-point performance from Kyle Lowry on 10-of-15 from the field, but the rest of the team struggled from the field as Toronto converted on just 37.0 percent of their shots. Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points, but did so on just 10-of-26 shooting from the field.
Game 2 will be on Friday, May 17, and 8:30 PM as the Toronto Raptors look to even the series at one game apiece.
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