LOS ANGELES: Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 30 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a convincing 125-103 victory over the Toronto Raptors Friday for a 2-0 lead in the National Basketball Association Eastern Conference finals.
The top-seeded Bucks, who rallied to win game one of the best-of-seven series, never trailed and led by as many as 28 points to double their lead in the series, which moves to Toronto for games three and four on Sunday and Tuesday.
Antetokounmpo played a key role in setting that tone — with a dunk, an emphatic block on Raptors center Marc Gasol and another dunk in the opening minute of the contest.
The Bucks made sure the Raptors never got a sniff, roaring to an 18-point lead in the first quarter on the back of nine quick points from Nikola Mirotic and a 12-0 scoring run late in the period.
Milwaukee led by 25 points, 64-39, at halftime, with Ersan Ilyasova contributing 15 of his 17 before the break and Malcolm Brogdon 12 of his 14 off the Bucks’ bench in the first half. Overall the hosts’ reserves out-scored Toronto’s 31-11 in the first half and 54-39 overall.