The Milwaukee Bucks dropped their opening NBA Cup game to the Toronto Raptors 121-107, and it was a tough pill to swallow, especially since the Raptors were apparently dealing with a bunch of injuries. Look, it was a genuinely disappointing loss, but if you’re looking for a silver lining, Brayden Burries absolutely erupted. The dude had a breakout game, scoring a career-high 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting, and somehow pulled down 11 rebounds, five of those on the offensive glass, plus six assists. On the other side of the court, second-year guard Alijah Martin for the Raptors went off himself, hitting a career-high 27 points, draining six of seven shots from deep. Wild.
Burries’ Early Domination and Foul Trouble Hits Hard
Man, the Bucks came out of the gate blazing! We were up 15-4 after just five minutes, and you can practically put that all on Brayden Burries. He was everywhere, electric on the boards from the jump. The guy snagged five rebounds in the first four minutes alone, two of them offensive boards. But then, things got rocky. Myles Turner picked up two quick fouls, forcing Kel’el Ware into early minutes. And while Ware had some good moments, the Raptors seemed perfectly happy leaving him wide open from three. Our offense just stalled out when he kept missing those shots. Before you knew it, it was a one-possession game after Martin absolutely torched us with three spot-up triples in quick succession. Thankfully, Ryan Rollins came alive in the final two minutes, scoring five points to put the Bucks back up 29-24 after the first quarter.
Bucks Built a Lead, But Raptors Kept Clipping At It
The second quarter started with some serious momentum, too. Burries slammed one home from the baseline, then Rollins followed up with an and-one, pushing our lead back out to eight points. The Bucks buckled down on defense for the next few minutes, and a Burries mid-range jumper forced the Raptors to call a timeout, with us holding a double-digit lead halfway through the period. Now, Tyler Herro had been ice cold, going scoreless in the first quarter for the third straight game. But he finally started to heat up in the second, hitting a tough step-back jumper against the shot clock and making some really slick interior passes. Burries, of course, was still fantastic, even nailing his first three of the night to reach a new career-high of 15 points on seven-of-ten shooting with just over two minutes left in the first half! But, oh man, the Raptors just kept coming. They closed the half on a 6-0 run, cutting our lead to single digits, 60-51, at the major break. That one stung.
Third Quarter Collapse as Raptors Take Over
Whatever momentum we had coming out of the locker room just evaporated. The Bucks started the third quarter looking totally lethargic, unable to generate any good shots. Meanwhile, the Raptors opened with an 11-4 run, just slicing through our defense. We were getting by on some ticky-tack foul calls, but Toronto was running a smooth, efficient offense that was just picking us apart. It was a brutal stretch. The visitors took their first lead of the game at the six-minute mark after another clutch Martin triple. Herro and Jaquez did respond with threes of their own to snatch the lead back, and a transition lob to Nate Ament a few plays later capped a 10-2 run for us. The game was a wild ride up to that point.
This NBA Cup opener was a real rollercoaster, with Brayden Burries shining bright in a tough loss. You gotta hope the team can build on the positives from Burries’ performance and tighten up that defense going forward.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Brew Hoop.
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