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Ford aims to beat former team in season series

Mar 12, 2007 - 2:55 PM Toronto (34-29) at Milwaukee (23-40) 8:00 pm EDT

MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- The Toronto Raptors are on the verge of winning their first division title in franchise history. They also hope to add another first on Monday.

In their 11th season, the Raptors will try to record their first winning season series against the Milwaukee Bucks when they meet on Monday.

Toronto's turnaround season can be attributed to the direction of general manager Bryan Colangelo, who traded for former Buck T.J. Ford and drafted rookie Andrea Bargnani with the No. 1 overall pick last June.

Ford is coming off one of his best performances of the season, collecting 25 points and 13 assists in Sunday's 120-119 overtime triumph over the Seattle SuperSonics.

"When you're struggling as long as I was struggling, you just have to go back to the basics," Ford said. "You know how you want to play and you know of what you're capable of playing, but sometimes it doesn't just click the way you want it to. You just have to believe in yourself."

Toronto won the first two meetings against Milwaukee before dropping the third matchup, 94-81, on March 2. The Raptors shot just 36 percent in the loss.

The Bucks would like to get back on track following their third defeat in four games, a 94-92 setback to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday.

Milwaukee forward Charlie Villanueva, who was traded for Ford, will be playing in his first home game against his former team after missing the first contest with an injured shoulder.