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VanVleet, Siakam provide offensive push as Raptors halt Bucks’ win streak

Fred VanVleet scored 29 points to lead the short-handed Raptors to a 97-93 triumph over Milwaukee on Thursday, snapping the Bucks’ eight game winning streak.

The Raptors (10-13) ended a four-game losing skid with just their second victory in their last six matches, and third at home this season.

Pascal Siakam had 20 points and eight rebounds, while rookie Scottie Barnes had 13. Back after missing two games with a deep calf bruise, Gary Trent Jr. had eight points and eight rebounds.

Jrue Holiday scored 26 points to lead a Bucks team (14-9) that was missing star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Raptors were coming off an ugly 98-91 loss to Memphis, dropping five consecutive at home for the first time since January of 2011. Siakam said after the loss to the Grizzlies that “the fans deserve better.”

They were solid out of the gate Thursday, holding the Bucks to a three-point lead then assembling an 11-point lead of their own. They led 73-68 to start the fourth.

The Bucks pulled to within two early in the final frame, but VanVleet almost single-handedly led the Raptors on a 7-0 run to put them up by nine.

A layup by Sandro Mamukelashvili had the Bucks within two with 4:34 to play, but the Raptors buckled down on the defensive end and when VanVleet muscled through a pair of Milwaukee defenders to the basket and scored, the Raptors were back up by six with 3:06 to play. VanVleet raised his hands in the air, encouraging the fans at Scotiabank Arena to cheer. They obliged.

Bobby Portis Jr., however, connected on a three-pointer with 33 seconds to play to slice the difference to three points. VanVleet drained a pair of free throws for some breathing room, but a pair of back-to-back fouls with 14 seconds to play sent the Bucks to free-throw line for five shots. They missed two.

Precious Achiuwa missed a pair of free throws with 3.6 seconds to play, but Barnes grabbed the offensive rebound that all but sealed the victory.

Toronto has been hit hard by injuries. OG Anunoby sat out his eighth consecutive game with a hip injury, and there’s no timeline for his return, while Khem Birch remains out with knee swelling. The Bucks were also short-handed, missing a trio of big men in Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez and DeMarcus Cousins.

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