Delly, Maker on brink of NBA playoffs exit

Apr 25, 2017 - 5:59 AM Thon Maker, Matthew Dellavedova and their young, promising, Milwaukee Bucks are just one loss away from being eliminated from the NBA Playoffs.

The Toronto Raptors trounced the Bucks 118-93 in game five of their Eastern Conference first-round series.

The win in front of an euphoric Toronto crowd gives the Raptors a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series and places them just one victory away from moving on to a second round meeting with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

"That's all we can focus on now, game six, the first possession and we have to be hungry and desperate," Bucks coach Jason Kidd, describing the dire situation his team faces, told reporters.

Game six is in Milwaukee on Thursday night and if the Bucks win, the deciding game seven will be in Toronto on Saturday night.

The Bucks' Australian duo, Maker and Dellavedova, had little impact on the game.

Maker, who started at centre, had six points and five rebounds in 22 minutes on the court while point guard Dellavedova came off the bench and contributed four points and two assists from 22 minutes.

The X-factor for the Raptors was unheralded forward Norman Powell, who exploded for 25 points including several rim-rattling dunks that helped tame the Bucks.

"He's a spark plug," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said.

Bucks All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo had 30 points, nine rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks but it was not enough to keep his team close to the Raptors.

The Raptors jumped on the Bucks early, took a 58-47 halftime lead and were up 90-73 at the end of the third quarter.

Elsewhere, Golden State's 45 points tied the record for most in a postseason first quarter and they went on to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 128-103 to sweep their series 4-0.

Stephen Curry had 37 points, seven rebounds and eight assists before sitting out the final quarter, while Kevin Durant returned from a calf injury - after missing games two and three - to score 10 points in 20 minutes.

Golden State played for the second straight game without coach Steve Kerr, who has been experiencing a flare-up of symptoms stemming from back surgery, but had little trouble in disposing of Portland with all five starters reaching double figures in the point column.

Damian Lillard did his best with 34 points and Al-Farouq Aminu contributed 25 points for the Trail Blazers.

The top-seeded Warriors will meet the winners of the Clippers or the Jazz in the Western Conference semi-finals.

In Atlanta, Paul Millsap bounced back from a sluggish start to score 19 points while Dwight Howard had his best game of the postseason as the Hawks beat the Washington Wizards 111-101 to level their series at 2-2.

Howard, who was a non-factor through the first three games, had a double-double by halftime and finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds.

The Hawks got double-figure scoring from seven players, including huge contributions off the bench from Kent Bazemore and Jose Calderon.

Bradley Beal scored 32 points, bouncing back from a dismal performance in game three, and John Wall had another solid performance with 22 points and 10 assists.

A series marked by ill feelings that went so far as Markieff Morris calling Millsap "a crybaby" returns to Washington for game five on Wednesday night.

Source: AAP