Delly and fellow Aussie teammate Thon Maker were not equal to the challenge of playing the Toronto Raptors on Toronto’s home court and the Milwaukee Bucks suffered a dispiriting 118 – 93 loss that puts the Raptors within one win of clinching their first round NBA playoff series.
The two teams will now return to Milwaukee for game six and the Bucks find themselves in a do-or-die situation.
Maker and Dellavedova accounted for only 10 of the Bucks’ 93 points, so if the series is to be kept alive, they will need to increase their production in the next game.
In other NBA action, the Golden State Warriors completed a four game sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers, winning by 25 points, 128 – 103.
The Warriors managed to sweep the Trail Blazers without head coach Steve Kerr, who is experiencing back issues related to back surgery several years prior. He left clear and precise instructions for his assistant coach Mike Brown, however: Give the ball to Stephen Curry and let him do his thing. After he has completed doing his thing, let Curry sit and rest during the fourth quarter.
Kevin Durant returned for the Warriors having missed the middle two games of the series due to a calf injury, but he was back with a vengeance, helping the Warriors build a 72 – 48 lead in the first 24 minutes of play.
