Alijah Martin scores career-high 27 as short-handed Raptors beat Bucks 121-107

Alijah Martin scored a career-high 27 points and RJ Barrett added 27 more as the short-handed Toronto Raptors beat the Milwaukee Bucks 121-107 in an NBA Cup game on Friday night in Milwaukee. Toronto outscored Milwaukee 70-47 in the second half and moved to 1-1 in NBA Cup group play. The Bucks fell to 0-1.

Martin's breakthrough

Martin was the main story. He shot 9 of 11 from the field and 6 of 7 from three-point range. Before Friday, he had made 6 of 27 three-pointers in his career. The 2025 second-round pick from Florida had not scored more than nine points in any of his previous 30 career games, and he had totaled 23 points in seven games this season.

Second-half surge

Toronto trailed by as many as 15 points before taking its first lead on a Martin three-pointer that made it 71-69 with 5:41 left in the third quarter. Tyler Herro answered 22 seconds later with his first three-pointer of the night to put Milwaukee back ahead. Herro's shot started a 10-2 run that gave the Bucks a 79-73 lead. Toronto then scored the next nine points and pulled ahead for good on a three-point play by Allen Graves with 2:17 left in the third quarter.

Jamal Shead added a career-high 16 assists and 10 points for Toronto. Collin Murray-Boyles and Jakob Poeltl each had 19 points. For Milwaukee, Herro finished with 23 points and 10 assists. Rookie Brayden Burries had 21 points and 11 rebounds, both career highs.

Injuries and standings

The Raptors played without seven-time All-NBA selection Kawhi Leonard (knee), two-time All-Star Scottie Barnes (groin) and starting guard Immanuel Quickley (hamstring). Leonard missed his seventh straight game.

The Bucks, now 1-8 overall, are off to their slowest start since 1993-94. That season they lost 10 of their first 11 games and finished 20-62. Toronto improved to 5-4 overall.

What's next

The Raptors host the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night. The Bucks host the Boston Celtics on Sunday night.