Milwaukee Bucks: 3 takeaways from 118-108 win over Orlando Magic

Transition dominance

The Milwaukee Bucks may have just taken the overall battle on Saturday night by a margin of 10 points, but they bettered the Magic in emphatic fashion throughout the game when it came to the fastbreak.

Orlando’s only two fastbreak points of the contest came late in the third quarter, when a bad pass by Sterling Brown was picked off, allowing Terrence Ross to essentially waltz his way through to the end zone.

The Bucks, on the other hand, scored a whopping 31 points on the fastbreak. Unsurprisingly, Giannis Antetokounmpo was largely responsible for Milwaukee’s transition success on both ends, whether dishing out perfectly timed assists to teammates who ran the floor alongside him, or chasing down and pinning Ross’ shot to the backboard on the other hand.

The Bucks are one of the league’s very best fastbreak teams on a nightly basis, but even within that context, this game stood out as a notable exception.

Milwaukee nearly doubled their average of 17.0 fastbreak points per game in this outing (sixth in the NBA), while their average of 9.6 opponent fastbreak points per game is clearly the standout mark in the NBA, and it was only further boosted by limiting Orlando to two points on this occasion.

The Bucks’ elite defense is built on preventing the opponent from getting easy points in transition, the paint, and off turnovers, and Saturday’s effort stood out as one of the best examples of that philosophy in action to date.

The Bucks will next be in action for a Martin Luther King Day matinee tip, as they’ll face the Dallas Mavericks at Fiserv Forum for a 1pm CT tip on Monday.