TORONTO – The Milwaukee Bucks came out flat on both ends of the floor for the second time in four games Wednesday night and were down big early and never recovered as they lost to the Toronto Raptors 130-111 at Scotiabank Arena.

Toronto came with the league’s worst scoring offense (99.5 points per game) and worst offensive rating (99.6 points per 100 possessions). They were making 33% of their three-pointers (21st) and just 42.5% of their shots overall (27th). They easily surpassed those numbers against the Bucks.

"I didn't think we did a good job as far as keeping the ball in front and obviously points in the paint, as far as kickout threes," Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin said of the defensive effort. "They were driving, spraying around. Just containing penetration and then having just the discipline to sit down and guard. I thought it was too many straight line drives in the paint and they were spraying around. ... That's partly on us as a staff, so I take blame for that. Just gotta do a better job of preparing them on a nightly basis."

Box score: Raptors 130, Bucks 111

The Raptors had scored 100 points just twice coming into Wednesday’s game, and one of those games they needed overtime to do so.

"The hard part is just staying patient," Bucks point guard Damian Lillard said. "I think we've all been around long enough to understand it's a process and it's going to take time but I don't think that makes it any easier. When it's happening you're kinda like man, I know I said it's a process and I know it's going to take time but we're competitors and we've done this at a high level so we expect to get the kind of results that we put into it.

"It's going to look ugly sometimes and other times it's going to look like the potential that it's supposed to look like. We had solid, solid showing opening night and then we laid an egg kind of against Atlanta. Then we bounced back and tonight was the same thing. So I think you know you're in that type of process when you have that type of inconsistency."

"But none of us are looking at it like oh, it's OK. Obviously it's frustrating. We don't want to have it but we're still trying to learn each other, we're still trying to learn a new staff and it's one thing to understand it in walk-throughs and in practice but to go out there when another team is team is trying to disrupt it and to be able to make reads and understand within that is a different challenge."

The Raptors (2-3) were disruptive from the opening tip, as they out-rebounded, out-shot and out-played the Bucks (2-2) in taking a 17-point lead late in the first quarter and pushing that to as many as 27 in the second quarter. There was never much doubt after that. They made 54.2% of their shots and 45% (9 of 20) from behind the three-point line. They had 11 second-chance points off eight offensive rebounds and cleared 32 rebounds in total – 16 more than the Bucks – in the opening half.

"It's a struggle," the Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo said. "OK, we can make excuses – there's a new player, there's a new coach, there's a new coach – we can keep on making excuses and think that it's going to be OK but that doesn't work in life. That doesn't work like that.

"You have to figure out solutions and right now our solution is that oh, we have a new player and a new coach and oh, we're going to be better in Game 40. No. We have to get better. We have to play together. We have to be more clear on what we try to get from offense. We have to be more clear with what we're trying to accomplish defensively and who we are going to let attack us, because you've got to live with something. You cannot stop everything. We can keep on figuring out solutions. Right now we're not there yet.

"Hopefully we can get better in the future. But if we just stay with the mindset that we are going to get better in the future, we will not. We have to every day come to the court and figure out ways to get better. I believe that as a team we will get better. Hopefully."

The Raptors did have the league’s third-best scoring defense (102.8) coming in, and by staking themselves to such an early margin they were able to impose their will defensively. OG Anunoby harassed Antetokounmpo all game while the Raptors swarmed to keep Lillard and Khris Middleton out of rhythm.

Malik Beasley led the Bucks with 20 points on 7 of 10 shooting, including 6 three-pointers. Pascal Siakam led the Raptors with 26.

Bucks admit process of jelling is tough

Miscommunications. Not wanting to overstep. Trying to do the right thing. Learning tendencies (both for teammates and opponents) and applying them in the heat of game. At the end of the preseason, Antetokounmpo and Lillard openly said such things would take time. But two lackluster losses to struggling teams have been hard to swallow.

"Typically for me, I take charge, and I try to make things happen and do more," Lillard said. "But I'm like I don't want to do that. I want to accept the process of this happening. And you know, Giannis is probably feeling the same way and Khris is probably feeling the same way.

"We want to show trust and not just go back to something that's not sustainable. And I think because of that sometimes it can get ugly.

"And sometimes just in my experience in the league, it gets a little bit ugly out there when everybody's trying to do the right thing and nobody wants to do the wrong thing. I think that's kind of happening."

Antetokounmpo understood that thought and agreed that the Bucks have tried to do the right thing, but at some point in games like this the team needs an willful ignitor.

"I feel like a lot of people are trying to do the right thing and sometimes it's gotta be somebody that gonna have to start the spark and do something that other people can follow," he said. "At times, some guys did that tonight but wasn't able to follow up with it."

"When offensively we got some easy look and some easy buckets, defensively we wasn't able to stop them. So again, at times, I think sometimes guys gotta step up and impose their will so other people can follow and kind of build energy and start something going."

Raptors muscle up on Antetokounmpo and Lillard

In leading by 15 or more points for the majority of the game, the Raptors not only put together their best offensive performance of the season but they also worked to close down angles and driving space on Antetokounmpo. He was just 1-for-4 for three points at halftime, and he attempted only a single free throw. The Bucks were down 17 when he made his first basket with 2 minutes left in the first quarter.

OG Anunoby drew the primary assignment to get up tight against Antetokounmpo, but the Raptors also made sure to throw center Jakob Poeltl and Scottie Barnes at Antetokounmpo as well. And unfortunately for the Bucks, they couldn’t make any shots when he kicked the ball out.

In 28 minutes, Antetokounmpo finished the game with 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting, but he was 6-for-9 from the free throw line. He also had only two assists and four rebounds.

"It's tough to score when we kept taking the ball out every time," Griffin said. "Giannis thrives in the open floor and we didn't give him an opportunity to do that because our defense couldn't get stops when needed to."

Over his 30 minutes Lillard was 4-for-9 from the floor, including a 1-for-4 mark from behind the three-point line. He made six of his seven free throws for 15 points and handed out six assists.

"To me, you just take what the defense gives you," Griffin said of Lillard's low shot total.

"They're going to put two, three people on him somebody's going to shoot an open three. And when we did that we got opens shots. Beasley, he knocked own a couple wide open (shots) because swing-swing, open three. Sometimes it may not be your night as far as shot attempts but finding different ways to be a playmaker and make the team pay for putting multiple bodies on Giannis and Dame. And I have to do a better job with that. But it's still early and those guys are doing the best they can to try to figure out each other's strengths and play with each other. And it'll come with time."

Bucks can’t get enough stops

Despite the fact that the Raptors were the worst offense in the league through their first four games, the Bucks could not string together stops at any point to change the momentum. Part of that was because Toronto crashed the offensive glass (14 offensive rebounds, 21 second-chance points with the starters) but the Raptors also exploited the Bucks rotations by attacking the paint and moving the ball decisively.

"We just gotta do a better job of taking care of the defensive glass," Bucks center Brook Lopez said. "They did a good job. They fought hard on that. It was clear that was a point of emphasis for them. It seemed like it was a key to their game and they did a great job on it. We need to be better at that."

The Raptors scored 62 points in the painted area when the starters were in, much of which came relatively easily (eight dunks and 26 fast-break points). And even though the Bucks forced 16 turnovers, the Raptors set a season high with 33 assists on 48 field goals with their starters in.

Antetokounmpo said he's a little surprised at how long it's taken to click defensively.

"For sure," he said. "There's going to be a lot of struggles and it's going to be learning curve for all of us. We gotta know when we gotta help and when we don't have to help. And there's going to be times when we try to help our teammate and they're going to knock down the three.

"But at the end of the day, we've got to keep putting effort behind our defense and sometime it's going to work as a system and sometimes it's not going to work. And at times it did not work. They were moving the ball, they were knocking down shots. They scored 130 points. They played extremely well."

5 numbers

4 Straight games Raptors forward Scottie Barnes has scored at least 20 points, a career high. He scored 21 vs. the Bucks, which included 4 three-pointers. He also had 12 rebounds and five assists.

13 The smallest deficit the Bucks tried to work back from in the second half, when Antetokounmpo threw down a lob dunk on an inbound pass from Cameron Payne with 34.7 seconds left in the third quarter. But the Raptors hit a three-pointer immediately after that and once again stretched their lead to 20 early in the fourth.

17 Minutes for Khris Middleton. He had played in 16 and 17 minutes in his previous two games. He scored 11 points on 4 of 10 shooting and had three rebounds, but no assists. Once again he did not play in the fourth quarter.

There was an odd moment in the third quarter when Middleton entered the game 90 seconds into it for Brook Lopez. Griffin said afterward he thought the forward had hit his minutes limit, but was informed Middleton had more time, so he subbed him in.

Lopez didn't know that the was reason for the change and said after the game whatever the reason was, it was fine by him. Middleton said he was informed of his additional when called upon in the moment.

"When I found out he wasn't (at his limit) I put Khris in and then tried to go small," Griffin said. "That's all it was. Brook didn't do anything wrong, but I thought initially Khris was done with his minutes but he had a few more so I wanted to throw him back in there."

33 Seconds left in the first quarter when Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin challenged an offensive foul called on Antetokounmpo. He lost that challenge, which meant he would not have one the rest of the game.

36 Free throw attempts by the Bucks when all of the starters were in for both teams, but they made 26 (72.2%). It was a massive advantage for the Bucks, as the Raptors attempted just 10 when the starters were in.

Did you notice?

With just under five minutes left in the first half, Toronto guard Gary Trent Jr. missed a 10-footer and fell to the court. The Bucks didn’t corral the rebound and the ball fell to Trent, who was still on the ground. The possession then eventually led to a Dennis Schröder three-pointer. It was one of many plays like that in the first half in which the Bucks didn’t finish a possession with a defensive rebound and allowed the Raptors additional chances to score.

Adrian Griffin caps ‘reunion’ month

The were going to be firsts along the way for Griffin in his first year as the Bucks head coach, but many of the emotional ones were checked off in the first month of his tenure:

• Oct. 8: First preseason game against Chicago and Billy Donovan, who Griffin worked under in Oklahoma City from 2016-18.

• Oct. 26: First regular season game against Philadelphia and Nick Nurse, who Griffin worked under in Toronto from 2018-23.

• Oct. 29: Coaching against son A.J. Griffin and the Atlanta Hawks.

• Nov. 1: First game in Toronto, where Griffin was part of the 2019 NBA champion Raptors. The Raptors are coached by Darko Rajaković, who worked alongside Griffin with the Thunder.

“It’s great to be back,” Griffin said about Toronto. “A lot of fond memories here. We were a tight knit family as far as (team president) Masai (Ujiri) and (general manager) Bobby (Webster). We won a championship here. Special times. It’s a little awkward being in the visiting locker room but I got to see a couple players when I walked in. You miss those guys. You build strong bonds with them over the years but tonight we’ve got to beat them.”

The Raptors played a tribute video to Griffin during the first timeout of the game.

“It’s been crazy,” Griffin said of the opening weeks on the job. “But you gotta maintain your focus. Our job is to be as prepared as possible when the ball goes up. You just gotta keep the main thing the main thing, have great practices, have great shootarounds, come in with a focus and expect the best from everyone.”

This stretch doesn't include Friday's game against New York and head coach Tom Thibodeau, who Grififn played under in Houston and worked for in Chicago.

Bucks pick up MarJon Beauchamp’s third-year option

MarJon Beauchamp, the No. 24 pick in the 2022 draft, had the option on the third year of his rookie contract exercised by the Bucks on Tuesday, per a league source. He will make $2.7 million in 2024-25. The second-year wing has been worked into the Bucks’ rotation while coming off the bench in the first few games of the season.

The 23-year-old experienced growth in his offensive game over the summer and preseason, and he’s taken that confidence into the early part of the regular season (62.5% shooting, 66.7% three-point shooting in two games). He’s also been trusted to relieve starter Malik Beasley on the defensive end and take on some of the more formidable offensive players.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Raptors 130, Bucks 111: Giannis, Lillard admit having patience is tough in loss