Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 111-104 win over Orlando Magic
The Milwaukee Bucks outlasted the Orlando Magic, coming away with a hard-fought 111-104 win on Saturday night.
There was a lot at stake for the travel-weary Milwaukee Bucks as they took the court on Saturday evening in Orlando.
Win, and they would cap off a nice 3-1 road trip, erasing the bad vibes from their loss at Miami the night before. Lose, and they would be on a two-game losing streak, returning to Milwaukee in need of some soul searching.
Luckily, the Joe Prunty era is all about taking care of business, and the Bucks prevailed once again over an inferior opponent. The Bucks improved to 8-2 under their interim head coach, and have excelled in defeating inferior opponents.
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Jabari Parker was held out as a precaution as he continues his recovery from ACL surgery, but the Bucks still had plenty of talent on hand to be heavy favorites. The Magic were low on firepower, with leading scorer Aaron Gordon and forward Nikola Vucevic out of the lineup due to injuries, and having recently traded talented guard Elfrid Payton.
Nevertheless, they came out blazing, shooting 7-of-16 on three pointers in the first half. Led by Shelvin Mack (14 points on 6-of-6 from the field in the first half), the Magic played from the front for much of the first and second quarters, and they entered the locker room winning 54-50.
The tide turned in the second half, as Prunty’s men appeared to remember that they are they are, in fact, the better team.
The Bucks locked the Magic down in the third quarter, holding them to 20 points on 5-of-26 shooting. Milwaukee did not allow a three-point field goal in the period.
With just over two minutes remaining in the third, Milwaukee went ahead on a Jason Terry three pointer. Despite the best efforts of the plucky, young Magic, the Bucks managed to hold the lead for the remainder of the evening.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was dominant in the final two quarters. He ended up with 32 points, including another impressive dunk for the highlight reel.
This time, the Greek Freak exploded for a violent one-hander over defensive-minded center Bismack Biyombo. He may not be appearing in this year’s slam dunk contest, but Giannis has been making some statements lately with his in-game slams.
Milwaukee needed to show some resilience to close this one out. Let’s take a closer look at how it all went down as the game came to an end.