By Canadian Press

DeRozan, Ross combine for 55 points in Raptors’ 122-100 rout of Bucks

Dec 12, 2016 | 7:00 PM

TORONTO — Terrence Ross was feeling a bit sheepish in the Raptors’ post-game locker-room.

The Toronto guard had scored 25 points and his offensive fourth-quarter onslaught had all but clinched the Raptors their 122-100 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday.

But it was the one blunder — a huge windmill dunk that unceremoniously slammed off the back of the rim and out — that had Ross looking chagrined.

“Yeah, everything else is irrelevant at this point,” Ross said. “It’s gonna be on every meme, every social media, so I’m going to get used to seeing it around. Hopefully it goes away soon.”

The 25-year-old was wrong about everything else being irrelevant. The bad miss came after a lovely string of plays that included four straight baskets, and a steal, and afterward had Bucks forward Jabari Parker calling him the difference in the game. 

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“You can let other players get their rhythm still, but (Ross), nothing against him, we can’t let the wild card get us like that,” said Parker, who had 27 points Milwaukee.

DeMar DeRozan had 30 points to top the Raptors (17-7) in their third straight victory, and ninth in the past 10 games.

Kyle Lowry had 18 points and seven assists, while DeMarre Carroll had 13 points, and Jonas Valanciunas finished with 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 30 points to top the Bucks (11-12).

The Raptors, who were coming off a 101-94 win in Boston that saw them claw back from a 14-point deficit, looked poised for an easy victory over the Bucks, cruising to a 26-point advantage before the first half was over.

But a sloppy third-quarter saw the Bucks cut the deficit to 10 points.

Toronto led 92-82 to start the fourth quarter, and then Ross almost single-handedly wrested the game from the Bucks’ grasp, hitting four straight shots, including a pair of three-pointers that put the Raptors back up by 20 points in barely three minutes. When Cory Joseph found Ross alone in front of the Bucks’ bench for his first three, the capacity crowd of 19,800 at the Air Canada Centre roared its approval and Ross gave a salute as he ran back upcourt.

He elicited groans when he missed on his dunk, but the mishap could be forgiven after a solid 10-for-17 shooting night.

What exactly went wrong?

“Pshhhh, I don’t know man,” Ross said. “I’m telling you, I started calling it the curse of Vince Carter. Nobody’s allowed to do two-foot windmills in the ACC until he retires, I’m guessing.

“I’m just gonna start laying it up.”

Lowry salvaged the possession with his first of back-to-back threes that put Toronto back up by 23 and the game out of reach.

Raptors coach Dwane Casey said Ross was also solid on the defensive end, but said Toronto’s defence overall is still very much a work in progress. The Raptors shot 50 per cent on the night, but allowed Milwaukee to shoot 47 per cent. The Bucks’ struggles came at the three-point line, where they were just 4-of-23.

“Defensively this team shoots 47 per cent and, again, we can’t get caught up in out-scoring people. We’ve got to hone in, we have to give Giannis credit, the kid’s a talent, and Jabari Parker jumps right in our chest and laying the ball in,” Casey said.  

“We’ve got to do a better job of protecting the rim, protecting the paint. A team shoots 47 per cent, we’ve got to make sure we work to get those numbers down. Our standards have got to be higher. We can’t be satisfied with a win, we’re trying to achieve other things to see the big picture.”

Toronto has won 12 of 13 meetings with Milwaukee, going back to the 2013-14 season.

The Raptors are 10-3 against Eastern Conference opponents this season, all three losses coming at the hands of last season’s playoff nemesis Cleveland.

The Bucks had the briefest of leads to open the game, but the Raptors used a 14-2 run to take an early eight-point advantage. A Patrick Patterson three-pointer with a second on the clock sent the Raptors into the second quarter up 33-23.

Ross scored 12 points in the second including a rim-swinging dunk off a steal and lob from Lucas (Bebe) Nogueira. Norm Powell’s pullup jumper put Toronto up by 26 points with 1:26 to play, and Toronto headed into the halftime break with a 69-49 lead.

Antetokounmpo had 15 points in a third quarter that saw the Bucks outscore Toronto 33-23.

The Raptors are in Philadelphia to face the 76ers on Wednesday, and return home to host the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.

NOTE: A year ago Monday, the Bucks stopped the Golden State Warriors’ win streak at 24 games, the longest win streak to open a season in NBA history.

Lori Ewing, The Canadian Press

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