{"id":238348,"date":"2025-10-25T03:08:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T03:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/238348\/"},"modified":"2025-10-25T03:08:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T03:08:15","slug":"antetokounmpo-scores-31-as-bucks-beat-raptors-to-spoil-home-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/238348\/","title":{"rendered":"Antetokounmpo scores 31 as Bucks beat Raptors to spoil home opener"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before his Toronto Raptors<\/a> embarked on the difficult challenge of defending Milwaukee Bucks<\/a> standout Giannis Antetokounmpo, head coach Darko Rajakovic called the two-time NBA MVP one of the top three basketball players in the world.<\/p>\n

After Antetokounmpo poured in a game-high 31 points and grabbed 20 rebounds in the Bucks\u2019 122-116 win at Scotiabank Arena on Friday, the Raptors head coach described the Bucks\u2019 6-foot-11 forward as a force of nature.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Giannis is Giannis,\u201d Rajakovic said. \u201cHe can do his thing there. We have to control that better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s tough,\u201d Toronto point guard Immanuel Quickley added. \u201cHe puts a lot of pressure on your defence. He\u2019s almost seven-feet tall, strong, and he can dribble.\u201d<\/p>\n

Antetokounmpo also nailed a couple of critical three-pointers and added seven assists.<\/p>\n

In a game that saw 19 lead changes and was tied on 14 occasions, Antetokounmpo opened with 12 first-quarter points and was held to only four more before halftime. But he was good for another seven points in the third and eight more in the final 12 minutes.<\/p>\n

For the most part, Raptors forward Scottie Barnes was assigned the challenging task of guarding Antetokounmpo. Rajakovic considers Barnes one of the NBA\u2019s elite defenders.<\/p>\n

Barnes felt he did a \u201cgreat\u201d job on Antetokounmpo.<\/p>\n

\u201cA great job, making it tough for him, making it not easy,\u201d said Barnes, who chipped in 17 points.<\/p>\n

The Antekokounmpo performance spoiled the home debut of Raptors guard Brandon Ingram. He scored 29 points, including a trio of three-pointers.<\/p>\n

The Raptors acquired Ingram in a midseason trade, but he never played for his new team last year, missing the final 56 games with an ankle injury.<\/p>\n

With the Toronto Blue Jays opening the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers a few blocks away, there was quite a baseball theme before, during, and after the Raptors’ home opener.<\/p>\n

Most of the Raptors donned different Blue Jays jerseys as they entered Scotiabank Arena. During a timeout, the Okay Blue Jays’ seventh-inning stretch song was played.<\/p>\n

There were World Series updates in the fourth quarter, and about a third of the 19,615 remained in their seat to watch the opening game.<\/p>\n

Milwaukee head coach Doc Rivers revealed he\u2019s pulling for the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Blue Jays in the World Series, citing his friendship with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that the Brewers are done, I can be honest about it,\u201d Rivers said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before his Toronto Raptors embarked on the difficult challenge of defending Milwaukee Bucks standout Giannis Antetokounmpo, head coach…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238349,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-238348","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}