TORONTO — Damian Lillard scored 25 points, while Giannis Antetokounmpo added 11 more with 13 assists and 12 rebounds in the Milwaukee Bucks 128-104 win against the Toronto Raptors on Monday.

Lillard’s offensive output in only 26 minutes of playing time was highlighted by five three-pointers as the Bucks halted their mini two-game slide at Scotiabank Arena.

R.J. Barrett returned after a three-game absence because of the flu to pace the Raptors with 25 points.

This was the first time the Raptors (8-28) had all five starters healthy this season and the first time since March 1 that their big three — Barrett, Scottie Barnes, and Immanuel Quickley — shared the floor.

Barnes chipped in 21 points while centre Jakob Poeltl added 12. Quickley and Dick were good for 11 apiece.

The Bucks led 28-19 after the first quarter, 66-47 at the half and 99-75 after the third.

The Raptors went a poor 9 for 35 from beyond the three-point arc.

Bobby Portis scored 18 points as Milwaukee (18-16) won for the fourth time in nine starts since claiming the NBA Cup three weeks ago.

TAKEAWAYS

Raptors: A sloppy Toronto squad committed three over-and-back violations in the first three quarters.

Bucks: The Raptors feted Milwaukee guard Gary Trent Jr. with a video scoreboard tribute at the beginning of the second quarter. He spent three years with the Raptors before signing with the Bucks as a free agent last summer.

KEY MOMENT

After Gradey Dick hit a baseline three-pointer, the Bucks responded with back-to-back three-point jumpers from Lillard and Taurean Prince to open a 77-52 lead with 7:49 remaining in the third quarter.

KEY STAT

Two-time NBA MVP Antetokounmpo played despite a sore knee but didn’t play in the fourth quarter. His limited action meant it was the first time this season he failed to score 20-plus points in a game.

UP NEXT

Bucks: Host the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.

Raptors: Visit the New York Knicks on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 6, 2025.

MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee police are asking for the public’s help to identify and locate a man wanted in connection with an attempted armed robbery and shooting that occurred near 76th and Good Hope on Friday Dec. 20, 2024. 

Officials say the man entered a business shortly after 9 p.m. on that Friday, pointed a handgun at an employee (victim), and demanded currency. The man shot the victim and fled the business, officials say. He may have been in a black 2006 Pontiac G6 with two doors.

The shooter is described as a male, African American male, in his 50s. He was last seen wearing a black Carhartt-brand hat, a gray skull-style mask, a yellow and green checkered jacket, blue pants, and chestnut-colored shoes. He was armed with a handgun. 

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Anyone with any information on this incident is urged to contact Milwaukee police at 414-935-7360, or to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 414-224-TIPS or P3 Tips. 

Milwaukee alders are pushing the city to explore eliminating a city fee for snow removal after “widespread concerns” about snow removal failures during a recent snowstorm.

The fee paid by most Milwaukee residents has been in place for years, and the discussion by City Council members comes after resident complaints about how the city manages plowing.

“If we can’t handle four inches of snow now, what’s going to happen the rest of the winter?” Milwaukee Alder Peter Burgelis said.

Milwaukee got around 4.5 inches of snow during a storm on Dec. 19 and Dec. 20. Burgelis said he believes many of the main roads in the city were properly plowed. 

“But inside of neighborhoods, where people live, those streets, many were untreated altogether,” Burgelis said. 

He said he heard similar complaints from other alders.  

“It wasn’t just an isolated incident or isolated plowing or lack of plowing in a handful of neighborhoods in my district, but that was really seen citywide in all parts of Milwaukee,” he said.

A statement from Burgelis said residents reported “unsafe road conditions” throughout the city after the storm.

Milwaukee Alder Lamont Westmoreland also said he received numerous complaints from residents about the snow removal response from the Milwaukee Department of Public Works.

“Taxes can’t continue to go up, people can’t continue to shell out more dollars, and the services continue to be lackluster,” Westmoreland said. 

The city’s snow and ice removal fee is $1.13 per foot of street frontage on a property. Residents are charged the fee annually, Burgelis said. If the city were to return that fee to residents, it would leave an $11.3 million gap in the city’s budget.

Burgelis did say the city likely doesn’t have the “capacity” to return all of that money to citizens.

“But if the city is charging for a service, there’s an expectation that residents get something for that fee,” he said.

On Wednesday, Milwaukee’s public works committee will discuss “evaluating mechanisms to provide a snowplow fee refund to some or all city residents,” Burgelis’ statement said. “It will also address potential improvements to ensure timely and effective leaf collection and snow removal in the future.”

Some of the problems of the December storm were exacerbated by late leaf pick-up.

Burgelis said the snow removal fee in Milwaukee began years ago when shared revenue from the state remained stagnant. However, the city now gets more money from the state due to Act 12, a bipartisan law that overhauled local government funding.

“And unfortunately, we’re still not getting the level of service that residents expect to get from DPW (Department of Public Works),” Burgelis said. 

Burgelis said he was told only around half of the city’s 200 snow plows were used during the December storm. A spokesperson for the Milwaukee Department of Public Works said the commissioner was not available for an interview.

Prior press releases from the spokesperson said crews were out for hours following the storm. 

“Crews are still out working to get the side streets cleaned up,” a Dec. 20 release said. “They are salting with brine and plowing curb to curb in the residential areas. We’re making sure our streets are in good shape as the temperatures drop tonight.”

But Westmoreland said the response wasn’t good enough. He said he heard similar concerns from residents last year after a snowstorm pounded the city in January 2023.

“And then here we are, almost a year later, and not one thing has changed,” Westmoreland said.

When asked about the refund on the snow plow fee, Westmoreland didn’t say he believed that idea was “realistic.” 

“People don’t want a refund on snowplowing,” he said. “People want the job done right the first time.” 

In an email, Jeff Fleming, a spokesperson for Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, said the mayor “thinks the Department of Public Works employees do very good work — often under remarkably tough conditions.”