Milwaukee Bucks 99, Toronto Raptors 85

Gradey Dick plays like a man.

The 20-year-old sophomore is no longer the 16-year-old the Raptors joked he was like last season. That’s not to say he looks that remarkably different physically, but the way he plays is night and day compared to last season.

On the one hand, he replaced Giannis Antetokounmpo who drove full steam straight at Dick who drew the charge in the first quarter. It’s the kind of play that showed off Dick’s improved defensive positioning and the tenacity he’s playing with this season.

On the other side, Dick was phenomenal, dropping a career-high 32 points in 38 minutes. He took advantage of the Bucks’ attempts to get him outside the three-point line and used that extra attention to draw fouls near the hoop. In the first half alone, Dick went to the line for 14 attempts, conceding 12 from the charity stripe. He had 22 of Toronto’s 43 points before the break, lifting Toronto’s otherwise sluggish offense to proficiency.

Dick’s development this season has been the biggest reason for optimism this year. He drove through Andre Jackson Jr. before nailing a fadeaway jumper down the right baseline and then went in for a 25-foot three-pointer without hesitation. When the Raptors are healthy this season – if the Raptors are healthy this season – Dick’s emergence as a floor spacer capable of contorting the opposing defense is going to help Toronto’s offense a lot.

RJ Barrett is still going through this situation.

The 24-year-old has always been a somewhat consistent player and it seems like he’s just forcing his shots a little more than necessary at the moment. This is partly due to the growth in his role with the absence of Immanuel Quickley and Scottie Barnes and the fact that Barrett is currently Toronto’s best offensive creator. That said, Tuesday wasn’t pretty for Barrett who repeatedly saw his shot attempts smothered by Brook Lopez near the hoop.

Given how depleted Toronto’s roster is these days, the Raptors can’t afford for Barrett to be as ineffective as he has been over the past two games. He finished Tuesday’s game with seven points on 3-of-14 shooting.

Immanuel Quickley to miss at least a week with partial tear in left UCL and it looks like it might be a little longer than that. It’s the latest in a series of injuries that have left the Raptors depleted and at times uncompetitive. Toronto has done a pretty good job of hanging on in these games, but it’s hard to see the Raptors righting this ship until reinforcements return in the coming weeks.

Tuesday marked the start of this year’s NBA Cup and it’s probably safe to say that the Raptors won’t be in the game this year. The lopsided loss leaves the Raptors at 0-1 in the group stage with a -14 point differential.

One more thing: brightly colored courts make these matches difficult to watch. I wasn’t a fan of the Bucks’ bright blue field.

The Raptors will have a few days off to regroup after their five-game road trip before opening Friday against the Detroit Pistons at 7 p.m. ET.