A fine display from Kawhi Leonard, who finished with 29 points, nine rebounds and four assists, helped San Antonio record a 103-96 victory in game six in Tennessee.
They did survive and will open Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal Monday in Cleveland against the defending National Basketball Association champs.
Lowry had little to say about the back stiffness that affected him during Game 5.
Rebounding from 2-1 series deficit and an embarrassing 27-point loss in Game 3, the Raptors will face Cleveland a year after losing to the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals in six games.
The Raptors, who took a beating in a tough, physical series with the Bucks, held an optional practice back in Toronto on Friday.
"We knew it wasn't going to be easy, we made it hard on ourselves down the stretch but I thought we showed a lot of resiliency down the stretch", Raptors' head coach Dwane Casey said. "It's a different year".
Milwaukee sent its usual array of traps and double-teams.
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As we advance deeper and deeper into the postseason, we'll be taking a look back on what stood out from each day of playoff action. Still, chants of "MIL-WAU-KEE" opened the night. We've got a couple of guys in the D League right now, they won a championship (also Thursday night) - congratulations to those guys. Since the Raptors chose to go small, maybe the Bucks could move Matthew Dellavedova to the starting lineup, remove Thon Maker from the starting lineup, and shift Antetokounmpo to center.
Along the way the Raptors passed multiple tests, their composure tested to the limit in what would become a series-clinching 92-89 win.
As for Malone, his eyes will probably be on another Game 6 tonight, when the Utah Jazz face the Los Angeles Clippers at Vivint Arena. Toronto was lucky; the Greek Freak took 8 foul shots, but could convert only 3. Serge Ibaka had 11 boards but just seven points before fouling out for Toronto.
The early punch came, as expected from Milwaukee playing before its home crowd, and like a grizzled veteran the Raptors took it flush on the chin, barely flinching.
To that end, it's time to look through the performances each of the upcoming Milwaukee Bucks free agents put on during the 2017 NBA Playoffs and see how they could affect their free agency stock in the coming months.
The Raptors held on for a 92-89 victory against the Bucks after almost blowing a 25-point lead. The Bucks hacked furiously at the lead, largely by turning the Raps over, then capitalizing. The Bucks made only 18 of 28 free throws, and they shot 42.1 percent from the floor. There were marvelous athletic feats from Antetokoumpo and timely jumpers from Khris Middleton and Matthew Dellavadova. This team has been to the Eastern Conference finals, they've been there. Kyle Lowry led the way there with 10 to go with his 16 points. He still wound up making enough plays to score 16 points in the first half and 24 in the first three quarters. Down two again, Patrick Patterson - the formerly indispensable Raptor who had been recently forgotten, lost in a slump - played give-and-go with Cory Joseph and dunked to tie it again.
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