Bucks-Raptors, Suns-Cavaliers games start very slowly

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) moves the ball up court during first half NBA basketball action against the Toronto Raptors in Toronto on Wednesday, January 4, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

Milwaukee and Toronto started very slowly Wednesday night.

Phoenix and Cleveland weren't much better.

In a season where teams are scoring more per game than at any point in more than 50 years, the Suns-Cavaliers and Bucks-Raptors games didn't exactly get off to flying starts. They turned in the two lowest-scoring quarters of the season - a combined 25 points in the Milwaukee-Toronto game, a combined 29 points in the Phoenix-Cleveland contest.

Toronto shot 2 for 23 in the first quarter, or 8.7%, and trailed Milwaukee 13-12 after 12 minutes. It was the worst first-quarter shooting performance by an NBA team since Feb. 27, 2015 - when the Raptors shot 1 for 19, or 5.3%, against Golden State.

The last team a team shot 8.7 against New York in the third.

The previous low in combined points for a first quarter this season came on Monday, when New York and Phoenix combined for 34 points. The low for any quarter was Nov. 5, when Milwaukee and Oklahoma City combined for 31 points.

Cleveland wound up beating Phoenix 90-88, matching the third-fewest points scored in a game this season. Miami (87) and Indiana (82) combined for 169 points on Dec. 12, New York (92) and Cleveland (81) combined for 173 on Dec. 4, and the Bucks (90) and Philadelphia (88) also totaled 178 on Oct. 20.

Offensive struggles have been rare this season. NBA teams, on average, are averaging about 114 points per game. That's the highest rate since teams averaged 116.7 per game in 1969-70.