THE STREAK STOPS HERE: Raptors winning streak, Calderon's free throw streak come to an end

Bucks 96, Raptors 85
Even with home court advantage, a healthy Jose Calderon, an injured Michael Redd, even freaking Jermaine O'Neal bobbleheads for the fans, the Raps couldn't do it. The Raps went ice cold in the third quarter falling to the Milwaukee Bucks 96-85.

The played one good quarter. The first quarter. This quarter had Il Mago score 13 points, Jose Calderon threw a nice alley oop to Jamario Moon and this quarter had Andrea Bargnani pull off this fancy reverse:

The Raps were up 30-24 after the first.

Chris Bosh had a nice And 1 in the second quarter but he also had a technical foul and four turnovers in this quarter. Charlie Villanueva and Charlie Bell nailed threes to go on a 9-0 run to get up three. Milwaukee led 49-47 at the half and Charlie V had 16 pts/4rebounds at the half.

Charlie V continued his hot shooting starting off the third with a three. The Raps went cold in the third shooting 5 for 20 scoring only 12 points. It was ugly. The Bucks got up to an 18 point lead and then the Raps went on a run. JO got in going in the fourth and Jose Calderon hooked up Bargnani for the jumper to get within ten.

And then.....it happened. Jose's consecutive free throw streak ended. He missed his free throw in the fourth ending thre steak at 87, and it symbolized how the game was going. Things got a little testy, J.O. had a hard foul on Richard Jefferson and was called for his second technical as he got into it with Andrew Bogut and Charlie V leading to an O'Neal ejection. Things just fell apart in the second half, even Bargnani went cold, after scoring 13 in the first quarter he only hit one field goal for the last three quarters. The Bucks maintained their lead in the last minutes and put an end to the Raptors winning streak.

For a Bucks perspective, check out Brew Hoop

Key Notes:
Charlie V. had 26 pts, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks
Chris Bosh led the Raptors with 19 pts & 9 rebounds but also had a whopping 7 turnovers
The Raps moved to 19-29 and have a tough four game stretch
Raptors face the Magic on Sunday

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Bucks were Redd Hot, Raps went Ice Cold

Forget about Andrea Bargnani scoring 21, forget about Bosh's 31 points, forget that the Raps shot 55% and forget that the Raps have won two in a row. This game was a "shoulda won" game.

Just scrap the first 46 minutes of the game and go right to the 2:39 minute mark left in the fourth quarter. Raps are up 95-91.

Here's the play-play:

Luke Ridnour makes 27-foot three point jumper (Michael Redd assists) 95-94
Will Solomon misses 18-foot jumper
Charlie Bell makes 23-foot three point jumper (Charlie Villanueva assists) 97-97
Will Solomon misses 26-foot three point jumper
Luke Ridnour makes 26-foot three point jumper 97-102
Andrea Bargnani misses 21-foot jumper
Michael Redd makes free throw 2 of 2 97-104
Michael Redd makes free throw 2 of 2 97-106
Will Solomon misses layup


Will Solomon? Will Solomon who was 2 for 13? Did they forget Chris Bosh was on the floor?

This game just slipped away from the Raps so fast as the Bucks went on a 13-0 run in the closing 2 minutes. It went from a four-point Raps lead to a 10 point loss against the Bucks. It was just a nasty way to finish a game and it goes to show that the Raps still have a ways to go if they couldn't finish off this game. The Raps went ice cold while the Bucks' Luke Ridnour hit a couple of big threes at the end.

For the Bucks, Michael Redd went for 35 pts, Charlie V went for 25 and Richard Jefferson had an offnight going for 6 points. For the Raptors, Bargs had a good game, 21 points and 8 boards, no one can call him Darko Two now. Chris Bosh scored 31 for the Raps along with 11 boards but the Raps did not go to the leading scorer in the closing minutes. The Raps had a lead as large as 13 during this game but the three ball got the Bucks back into this game as the Bucks hit 11 threes. This was a ugly loss, just too much Michael Redd and too much Will Solomon in the deciding minutes.

For a Bucks perspective, check out Brew Hoop The Raps are at Washington Wednesday night.




Photo credit: (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images)

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