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MILWAUKEE -- Toronto blew a 25-point second-half lead but used a 9-0 run late in the fourth quarter to knock the Milwaukee Bucks out of the playoffs with a 92-89 victory Thursday night in Game 6 of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series at the Bradley Center. DeMar DeRozan led the way, scoring 32 points on 12-of-24 shooting, including a thunderous dunk with 48 seconds to play. Kyle Lowry added 13 points for the Raptors, who shot 45.7 percent.
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Toronto advances to face the second-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round, a rematch of last season's Eastern Conference finals.
Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 34 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 47 minutes but went 7 of 13 from the free-throw line. The Bucks made only 18 of their 28 foul shots.
Antetokounmpo scored Milwaukee's first eight points as the Bucks jumped out to an 8-2 lead, forcing a Raptors timeout less than two minutes into the quarter.
He had 10 of Milwaukee's 14 by the time the Raptors tied it up but the rest of the team wasn't much help: Antetokounmpo hit five of Milwaukee's eight first-quarter buckets and the Bucks missed four of five 3-pointers as Toronto pulled ahead for a 28-24 lead.
The Bucks got even colder in the second, going 6-for-22 from the field and missing all four of their 3-point attempts to fall behind by as many as 13.
Toronto took a 51-38 into halftime with DeRozan scoring 16 points.
The Raptors led by as many as 25 in the third quarter before Milwaukee finally showed signs of life. Antetokounmpo hit a 3-pointer with 3:13 left to get the Bucks within 19 and Khris Middleton (19 points) followed a Toronto turnover with another 3 as Milwaukee closed the quarter on a 15-3 run to make it a a 74-61 game heading to the fourth.
A free throw from Monroe got the Bucks within eight before DeRozan stopped the Raptors' bleeding. Bucks coach Jason Kidd was called for a technical after a block call on Middleton and Lowry's two free throws restored a 12-point advantage.
Toronto led by six when Serge Ibaka drew his fourth foul but a 14-0 Milwaukee run capped off by a wide-open 3 from Jason Terry put the Bucks up 80-78 with 3:07 to play.
Terry struck again from deep to make it a one-possession game with 16.5 seconds left but DeRozan closed it out from the line.
NOTES: The Bucks have lost eight consecutive playoff series and haven't advanced past the first round in their last seven trips to the postseason. ... Toronto won three consecutive playoff games for the first time and advanced past the first round for the third time in franchise history. ... Prior to Thursday, the Raptors were 0-3 in Game 6 since Dwane Casey took over as coach in 2011.
