Alijah Martin scored a career-high 27 points and RJ Barrett added 27 as the short-handed Toronto Raptors beat the Milwaukee Bucks 121-107 in an NBA Cup game on Friday night.
The Story
Alijah Martin posted a career-high 27 points and RJ Barrett also scored 27 as the short-handed Toronto Raptors defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 121-107 in an NBA Cup game on Friday night in Milwaukee.
Toronto outscored Milwaukee 70-47 in the second half to improve to 1-1 in NBA Cup group play, while the Bucks fell to 0-1. Both teams are in East Group A along with Detroit, Orlando and Brooklyn.
Toronto was without Kawhi Leonard (knee), Scottie Barnes (groin) and starting guard Immanuel Quickley (hamstring). Leonard missed his seventh straight game.
Martin’s breakout included 9-of-11 shooting overall and 6-of-7 from 3-point range. He entered Friday having made 6 of 27 career 3-point attempts, and he hadn’t reached more than nine points in any of his previous 30 NBA games.
Jamal Shead added a career-high 16 assists and 10 points for Toronto. Collin Murray-Boyles and Jakob Poeltl finished with 19 points each.
Milwaukee was led by Tyler Herro, who scored 23 points and had 10 assists. Brayden Burries, a Bucks rookie, recorded career highs with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
After trailing by as many as 15 points, Toronto took its first lead on Martin’s 3-pointer that made it 71-69 with 5:41 left in the third quarter. Herro answered 22 seconds later with his first 3-pointer of the night, beginning a 10-2 run that put Milwaukee ahead 79-73, but Toronto scored the next nine points to pull ahead for good on Allen Graves’ three-point play with 2:17 left in the third.
Up next, the Raptors host the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night, while the Bucks host the Boston Celtics on Sunday night.
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