Watch: DeMar DeRozan Lands Huge Dunks For Raptors To Eliminate Bucks With 92-89 Game 6 Win

DeMar DeRozan scored 32 points for the Toronto Raptors in Milwaukee on Thursday night to lift his team to a 92-89 series-clinching victory over the Bucks in six games.

Watch: DeMar DeRozan Dunks In Raptors’ Game 6 Win vs. Bucks

The three-time All-Star guard landed multiple giant dunks on the Bucks, including one on a 9-0 Toronto run in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter that gave the Raptors an 87-82 lead with 49 seconds remaining. Cory Joseph, who had five points in Toronto’s 9-0 run at the end of the game, hit a 3-pointer with 1:27 remaining to give the Raptors a definite 85-82 lead just before that dunk from DeRozan. Two foul shots from Joseph with 33.9 seconds left pushed Toronto’s lead to seven.

Toronto withstood a 25-point comeback from Milwaukee (including a 20-3 run at the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth) to earn the victory, which propelled the Raptors to the second round of the NBA Playoffs, where they will visit the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night for Game 1. The Raptors lost to the Cavs in six games in last year’s Eastern Conference finals. Cleveland swept Indiana in four games with a road win on Sunday.

”I think we gave up the lead by not passing the ball, not moving the ball as much,” guard Kyle Lowry said of the Bucks’ rally. ”But you live and you learn. … On to the next one and we’re prepared for the next one.”

Nevertheless, DeRozan said he believed the fact that his team remained composed allowed the Raptors to avoid completely squandering their lead and losing the game, and coach Dwane Casey agreed.

”We stayed calm,” the guard said. “We knew they weren’t going to give up.”

DeRozan, who also had four rebounds, three assists and five steals in 40 minutes, also sank a major dunk with just under two minutes left in the first half to put Toronto up 49-38

The guard only had one point, a free throw, in between a layup with 2:49 left in the third quarter and another one with 2:53 remaining in the fourth. Nevertheless, DeRozan’s statistics during this first round series were much better in the Raptors’ four victories than they were in their two defeats:

Giannis Antetokounmpo, who helped spur Milwaukee’s second-half comeback, finished with 34 points, but missed some keys shots like this layup that went off the backboard with just under six minutes left in the game as the Bucks trailed 78-70:

Khris Middleton added 19 points for Milwaukee after missing practice time this week due to illness.

The Bucks seemed exhausted, particularly following their second-half rally, and it showed, as Antetokounmpo admitted.

”You know you’re going to be tired, it’s the playoffs. I just was thinking in my mind ‘Do whatever it takes,”’ the All-Star said. ”I told my teammates to just fight through it. It was not just me. Everybody was tired.”

The San Antonio Spurs also eliminated the Memphis Grizzlies with a 103-96 Game 6 road victory on Thursday.

The Spurs next host the Houston Rockets for Game 1 of Round 2 on Monday.

MILWAUKEE, WI – APRIL 27: DeMar DeRozan #10 of the Toronto Raptors dunks the ball in the fourth quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2017 NBA Playoffs at BMO Harris Bradley Center on April 27, 2017 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Article by Pablo Mena