Bucks pull away in fourth quarter to beat Raptors 115-108

TAMPA, Fla. — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 24 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists, and Donte DeVincenzo sparked a five-point sequence in the fourth quarter that helped the Milwaukee Bucks pull away for a 115-108 win over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night.

The Bucks (11-6) were leading by just three points after a dunk by DeVincenzo, who followed with a steal and drew a flagrant foul on Kyle Lowry. After DeVincenzo made the two free throws, the Bucks took the ball out of bounds and Bryn Forbes nailed a 3-pointer to put the Bucks up 92-84 with 9:54 left.

The big play helped the Bucks hold off the Raptors (7-11) down the stretch despite a 14-point scoring burst by Lowry and a two-minute stretch in which Antetokounmpo sat out after getting hit in the face.

Norman Powell led the Raptors with 26 points. Lowry finished with 21 points and six rebounds.

Fred VanVleet, the Raptors’ leading scorer, finished with 10 points and 10 assists after a scoreless first half.

Kris Middleton closed the first half with a 3-pointer to put the Bucks up 63-54, the largest lead for either team until 3-pointers by D.J. Augustin and Bobby Portis stretched Milwaukee’s lead to 11 midway through the third quarter.

Toronto scored the final nine points of the third and took an 84-83 lead on Yuta Watanabe’s lane runner early in the fourth.

Coming in as the NBA’s No. 1 shooting team at 49%, the Bucks made 10 of their first 14 shots before Antetokounmpo went to the bench with 4:33 left in the first quarter. They shot 43% for the game.

Lowry’s 3-pointer in the first minute gave him 10,001 points as a member of the Raptors. He joined DeMar DeRozan (13,296) and Chris Bosh (10,275) as the only players to score 10,000 with the franchise.

TIP-INS

Bucks: Brook Lopez had his fifth straight double-figure scoring game, finishing with 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting.

Raptors: Played without F OG Anunoby, who missed his first game of the season with a strained left calf. … VanVleet is the only Raptors player to have started all 18 games. … Pascal Siakam started after missing two games with a swollen left knee and had 11 points and nine rebounds in 35 minutes.

UP NEXT

Bucks: Play at New Orleans on Friday night in the second of nine road games in 19 days.

Raptors: Play at home against Sacramento on Friday night in a rematch of a game from three weeks ago in which Toronto set a franchise scoring record in a 144-123 win.