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2017 NBA Playoffs: 5 reasons why Toronto Raptors will bounce back to beat the Milwaukee Bucks

By Duane Rohrbacher

Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10) and Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) are both good options in tonight's FanDuel daily picks. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10) and Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) are both good options in tonight's FanDuel daily picks. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports /
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Do not worry, Toronto. The Raptors can and probably still will win its first round matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks. It might just take a while.

The Milwaukee Bucks shocked the world by beating the Toronto Raptors handily on Saturday, winning Game 1, 97-83. The Bucks came out with a tenacity that is not often seen. The Raptors, meanwhile, looked sluggish and out of sync. Playoff versions of DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry showed up, meaning that they played terribly.

The Raptors won four in a row to close out the regular season to get to the No. 3 seed, and they are not going to go down without a fight. Here are five reasons that the Raptors will send the Bucks packing before the end of this series.

5. The Raptors rotation is new

The Raptors rotation is not only new, it is brand new. The Raptors picked up both P.J. Tucker and Serge Ibaka. They jettisoned stalwart Terrence Ross. Kyle Lowry missed 21 games between Feb. 24 and April 5. What could be their best lineup — DeMarre Carroll, DeMar DeRozan, Serge Ibaka, Jonas Valanciunas, and Kyle Lowry — played only 40 minutes together the entire season. The Raptors best +/- lineup on paper, at +90, does not include Serge Ibaka or P.J. Tucker. Both its second and fourth best +/- lineups include a player no longer on the roster.

Dwayne Casey has his hands full in the playoffs. Whereas teams like Golden State and Cleveland can rely heavily on one or two players, the Raptors have to win and play as a team. While Lowry and DeRozan have been great individually, they played very different roles as the season progressed. DeRozan went from a co-first option to the first option. Now, he has to take a side-seat to Lowry and worry about Ibaka getting touches. The Raptors did get deeper when they added Tucker, but he is also eating into minutes from other guys who were getting them and playing well throughout the season. Patrick Patterson and Norman Powell would like to raise their hands in protest.

It’s a good problem to have though.

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