MILWAUKEE—They knew what was being whispered and written and spoken aloud. Being ripped for poor playoff games has become something of a rite of spring DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry.

It happened last year when neither of the Toronto Raptors guards could make a shot until they had to, and it magically turned into a couple of Game 7 victories and a trip to the NBA Eastern Conference final.

It happened two years ago when they had a mismatched team too reliant on offence with Lowry hurt and DeRozan merely average, and they were swept at the hands of the Washington Wizards.

It happened three years ago when a group of better, older, more experienced Brooklyn Nets ripped their hearts out in Game 7, leaving Lowry lying on the court stunned that a series-winning shot went awry.

So the 48 hours leading up to Saturday — with fans carving DeRozan for his field goal-free Game 3, and wondering how soon after July 1 that Lowry might leave, and questioning the suitability of coach Dwane Casey — were old hat.

Recap: Raptors win Game 4 in Milwaukee

And so, too, was the result. DeRozan was outstanding, Lowry was the leader and Casey tweaked the lineup and rotation well enough that the Raptors beat the Milwaukee Bucks 87-76 to tie their best-of-seven first round series 2-2.

The Raptors were calm and focused and played tremendous defence, they made just enough shots to get by, and they made Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton disappear while wresting back home-court advantage.

“We have got a lot better over the years at understanding how to, you know, collect our thoughts,” DeRozan said after a 33-point gem. “The time will come when we will get back out on there on the court but, in the meantime, try not to go crazy in two days of waiting.

“Just being patient and being mature with the process and trying to keep (Lowry) calm. It’s still a challenge but we figure it out.”

That’s the old-headed nature of the two relatively young kids who have seen so much and been through more ups and downs with the Raptors than imaginable.

They knew they were awful in a Game 3 loss, they bore the brunt of the criticism and then simply went out and played better.

DeRozan, in particular, was exponentially better than he was in Game 3. With Casey providing one significant tweak — there were far fewer screens set for DeRozan by big men which kept Milwaukee’s length at bay — DeRozan went into the teeth of the Bucks interior defence. He got to the free-throw line nine times and still made enough pull-up jumpers so that no defender could drop off him.

“We sat and had dinner (Friday) and he said he was going to play better,” Lowry said. “That’s all that matters. He said, “All right, it’s over, I played bad. It’s going to be a different game.’ That’s basically what he said. I ride with my guy.”

There were bumps, of course, because if there weren’t these wouldn’t be the Raptors. They missed 17 of 22 three-pointers, shot 41 per cent from the field, committed 13 turnovers, and gave up 13 offensive rebounds that led to 11 Milwaukee points.

No one other than Lowry and newly-installed starter Norm Powell made a three-pointer and, outside of Lowry and DeRozan, the Raptors shot an inglorious 25.1 per cent from the field.

“We played more of our type of game,” Lowry said, glancing at the boxscore. “87-76. Real old school basketball right there. Real old school Eastern conference basketball out there. It was kind of ugly.”

That may be a disservice to both old-school Eastern Conference basketball and all things that are ugly, but that’s beside the point. The Raptors won a game they desperately needed to win.

They were able to hold the Bucks to 37 per cent shooting and the decision to start Powell over Jonas Valanciunas turned out to be inspired.

Powell helped with a defence that allowed Middleton to make only four of 13 shots and one that held Giannis Antetokounmpo to just 14 points, slowly the game to a pace far better suited to Toronto.

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“They found a way to slow us down and our tempo really slowed down in the second half and came to a halt,” said Bucks coach Jason Kidd. “Our energy level was down for whatever reason and we have to fix that going into Game 5.”

How the Raptors deal with Game 5 — Monday in Toronto, with Game 6 back here on Thursday — is impossible to predict. Will they handle Game 4 success as well as they handled Game 3 failure?

With this group, you never know.

“I’ve always said we play better with our backs against the wall,” Casey said. “It’s a tough way to live but I love our team’s resilient personality. I wish we wouldn’t have a stinker before we play that way but if we can consistently get everybody at their level, their potential level, I think we’ll be in good shape.”

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