The Milwaukee Bucks travel north of the borer to play the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Center on Friday.
The Bucks (21-24) are in a world of trouble right now, as they’ve lost six of their last seven games. What’s even more concerning about that stretch is who the losses came to, as they were defeated by the Miami Heat, Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers (twice) in that stretch. Many people thought this was a young team taking that next step, but with this run, it’s clear they aren’t ready to compete with the elite. Things aren’t pretty off the court either, with Jabari Parker recently getting benched for disciplinary issues. It’s not just that though, as players are surely getting tired of these wacky Jason Kidd rotations. The most bizarre part of the rotation is the fact that Miles Plumlee and John Henson continue to start over Greg Monroe, who is undoubtedly the far superior player. While the struggle is real in Milwaukee right now, there’s a lot of young talent to be encouraged by and fans shouldn’t be too worried.
The Raptors (28-18) are equally as concerned as the Bucks, as they come into this matchup losing five-straight games. That’s easily their worst stretch of the season and it comes as no surprise with the absence of DeMar DeRozan. Quite simply, this is a two-man team with DeRozan and Kyle Lowry and they don’t have enough to win games if one of them is out of the lineup. The good news is that he’s questionable for this game and seems more likely to play than not. The offense is what’s carried them all season, but that’s also what’s plagued them in this poor stretch. In fact, Toronto are averaging just 95 points a game in this losing streak, which is far below their 110-point average for the season.
