Toronto, ON – Brandon Jennings poured in 19 points and handed out 10 assists and the Milwaukee Bucks pulled away in the fourth quarter to topple the Toronto Raptors, 107-96, on Sunday at Air Canada Centre.
John Henson added 19 points and six rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench, while Monta Ellis netted 17 points for the Bucks, who bounced back from a 103-87 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Friday.
Mike Dunleavy donated 15 points and Larry Sanders gave 11 points and eight rebounds in the victory.
"We came out sluggish and fell behind, but we have a great group of guys off the bench that can help us," Bucks coach Jim Boylan said. "Larry did a great job fighting at the rim for us."
DeMar DeRozan scored a game-high 23 points and added five boards for the Raptors, who coughed up a 20-point first-quarter lead and had a two-game winning streak snapped. Amir Johnson netted 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in defeat.
Jose Calderon dropped in 21 points for Toronto, while Ed Davis contributed 20 and 12 boards in a losing cause.
Toronto led 87-84 with 7:42 to play, but that lead quickly evaporated thanks to a 6-0 Milwaukee run highlighted by a Henson jumper and a tip-in by Sanders which gave the visitors a 90-87 margin with 5:50 left.
A slam by Davis shortly afterward made it 91-90 Toronto, but Jennings drained a pair from the line to give Milwaukee a one-point edge with 3:34 to play.
The Bucks pulled away from there, using a 9-0 burst to open up a 10-point lead with 1:23 left. Toronto couldn't get close than seven down the rest of the way.
"We got off to a great start, but our second unit got us out of rhythm," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "Our second unit has to learn how to come in and keep it going."
It was a close game early on, as a jumper by Milwaukee's Luc Mbah a Moute made it 8-7 in Toronto's favor, but the Raptors then erupted for a 19-3 surge to create some distance between the teams.
DeRozan got the run started with a 17-foot jumper and Calderon added eight points during the charge, which Johnson finished with a nice reverse layup to put the hosts up by a comfortable 27-10 margin with 3:50 to play in the first quarter.
The Raptors allowed just six points over the remainder of the opening quarter and led 34-16 heading to the second session.
Milwaukee turned the tables on Toronto in the second, dominating the quarter by a 31-15 count to make it a game once again.
The Bucks opened the frame with an 18-4 surge, capped by a Henson layup, to pull within four with 6:11 to play in the first half. Toronto went back up by eight courtesy of a pair of DeRozan free throws, but the Bucks then ripped off a 9-1 run to tie things at 47-47 with 26.9 left, but the trailed by two at the half.
The third quarter was back-and-forth, featuring five ties and four lead changes, but the Raptors created a little breathing room in the latter stages of the period.
With the game tied at 74 and 1:51 left in the third, Toronto scored the final four points of the quarter to take a 78-74 edge into the final 12 minutes.
Game Notes
Milwaukee has won eight consecutive games against Toronto and five straight as the road team in this series ... Toronto has lost 23 straight games when allowing 100 or more points ... Milwaukee shot an efficient 51.9 percent from the floor, while holding the Raptors to 42.4 percent and just 3-of-13 from 3- point range.
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