If our NBA model could talk, here’s what it might say about the NBA Finals: Bleep, bleep, bloop. Based on their accomplishments over the past few seasons, the Golden State Warriors are better than the Toronto Raptors at full strength. However, the Warriors will start the NBA Finals without Kevin Durant, and possibly also without […]
With 2:18 left in the third quarter of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, Milwaukee Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova trudged to the free-throw line. After he made his first shot to put the Bucks up 14, Mike Budenholzer subbed Giannis Antetokounmpo out of the game, hoping to grab his superstar a quick breather while […]
sara.ziegler (Sara Ziegler, assistant sports editor): The Toronto Raptors stole a road win Thursday night with a huge game from Kawhi Leonard and are now just one win away from taking the Eastern Conference finals against the Milwaukee Bucks. If the Raptors can win either of the next two games, they’ll move on to face […]
In many ways, Thursday’s pivotal Game 5 between the Raptors and Bucks embodied the topsy-turvy nature of this Eastern Conference finals series as a whole. Milwaukee, the winner of the first two games, dominated the early portion of the contest, only for Toronto, which took Games 3 and 4, to come storming back. But down […]
Led by Kawhi Leonard, the Toronto Raptors completely shut down the Bucks offense in Game 3, slicing Milwaukee’s Eastern Conference finals lead to 2-1 in the process. Mike Budenholzer’s crew finished the 2018-19 regular season ranked fourth in offensive efficiency, so holding them to just 93.1 points per 100 possessions across six periods stands as […]