Milwaukee Bucks vs. Toronto Raptors Game 4: Prediction, Odds, Preview For 2019 NBA Playoffs

The Toronto Raptors kept their title hopes alive Sunday night by winning a virtual must-win game in the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals. The No.2 seed now trails the Milwaukee Bucks 2-1 in the series with a chance to tie things up at home Tuesday night in Game 4.

Toronto’s victory ensured that the series will shift back to Milwaukee. It also provided further evidence that the Raptors don’t have what it takes to defeat the Bucks four times in seven games.

That’s why Toronto is a home underdog after being favored in Game 3. The Raptors are getting 2.5 points, according to OddsShark. The total is 216.

The Raptors needed two overtimes to hold off the Bucks, who lost Giannis Antetokounmpo to a sixth foul when the game was tied just 36 seconds into the second extra session. Toronto had blown a four-point lead with fewer than 45 seconds left in both regulation and the first overtime.

Kawhi Leonard willed Toronto to a 118-112 win. He scored eight points in the second overtime, totaling 36 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals on the night. His 31 points in each of the previous two games weren’t enough to give Milwaukee a victory.

The biggest difference came in the way the Raptors defended Antetokounmpo. The likely regular-season MVP had just 12 points on 16 field-goal attempts, though he did finish with 23 rebounds, seven assists and four blocks.

With Leonard guarding Antetokounmpo for a significant portion of the game, the Greek Freak registered eight turnovers. Toronto was quick to double or triple team the forward when he made his way into the paint. He also missed five of his seven free-throw attempts.

Milwaukee’s role players didn’t outperform Toronto’s secondary and tertiary scorers the way they had in the previous two contests. Eric Bledsoe, Khris Middleton and Nikola Mirotic all made three field goals each. Pascal Siakam and Marco Gasol both had their best games of the series, shooting 50 percent from the field and combining for 44 points, 23 rebounds and eight assists.

A look at what’s happened this postseason doesn’t inspire confidence that Toronto’s big men will have a repeat performance in Game 4.

Gasol was finally aggressive when giving open looks, making four of his eight three-point attempts. The odds are that he simply had a good shooting night, considering he had shot 34.9 percent from the field and 30 percent from three-point range over his previous 11 games. Gasol hadn’t scored more than seven points in any of the prior four games.

Siakam’s overall playoff numbers don’t tell the whole story of his first postseason as the second option on offense. He has struggled to make shots in big moments, and that continued Sunday night when he missed two free throws that ultimately allowed Milwaukee to force overtime.

The Bucks continue to get big games from George Hill and Malcolm Brogdon. Brook Lopez has shown he’s not afraid to shoot when given the chance.

Antetokounmpo’s Game 3 will be an outlier when the series is over. He responded to a poor series opener against the Boston Celtics by averaging 30.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game while shooting 59.4 percent from the field to close out the second round. Expect Antetokounmpo to respond in a similar fashion to conclude the East Finals.

The story before Game 3 was that Leonard didn’t have enough help to combat Antetokounmpo and all of Milwaukee's shooting. We’ll be talking about the same thing after Tuesday’s Game 4.

Game 4 Prediction: Milwaukee over Toronto, 110-104