The Milwaukee Bucks kicked off their three-game road trip on the right note by taking of the Orlando Magic in a 124-87 victory Sunday night at the Amway Center.
Still without superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who missed his fifth consecutive game with left knee soreness, the Bucks surely didn’t feel the absence of the reigning MVP over the course of their wire-to-wire victory.
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That also certainly speaks to the current state of the Magic, which has pivoted to a full-on rebuild after dealing away the likes of Evan Fournier, Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic.
Nevertheless, the Bucks did exactly what was expected of them and ended up taking one of their most dominant victories of the season so far.
So without further ado, let’s break down what stood out in the Milwaukee Bucks’ victory over the Orlando Magic from Sunday night.
Milwaukee Bucks make it rain from 3-point range in win over Orlando Magic
We’ve certainly seen the Bucks’ 3-point firepower at various points this season and last night offered us the latest instance of how dangerous this Bucks offense can be. Even without their leading scorer and superstar in Antetokounmpo.
To that point, the Bucks knocked down 19 threes on 40 attempts throughout the night, which was good for 47.5 percent. It was a total team effort too as it was Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Mamadi Diakte and Jeff Teague who all didn’t hit at least one triple throughout the night.
In particular, it was good to see Pat Connaughton drain all three of his attempts from that range, especially after being in the midst of a brutal shooting spell over the Bucks’ road trip.
This now marks the fourth game where the Bucks have hit 19 triples in a tilt and they have 20 or more threes in a game on seven occasions this season.
With such a high-level shooting display, the Bucks’ offense resembled what we saw earlier in the season and hopefully further displays are seen as the Bucks continue their run into the final month of the regular season.
Milwaukee Bucks sport a different second unit in win over Orlando Magic
Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer decided to switch up the team’s starting lineup with Antetokounmpo sidelined once again. With Connaughton taking the place of Bobby Portis in the starting unit, the Bucks’ bench got an added dose of firepower that it has needed at times this season.
The Bucks’ second unit finished with 62 points, with Portis leading the way with 16 points on 6-for-12 shooting and 4-for-6 from downtown in 23-and-a-half minutes. That was followed by Bryn Forbes, who finished with 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting (2-for-5 from long distance).
Easily the biggest development was seeing Bucks rookie Jordan Nwora spelling Middleton in the team’s rotation, all of which comes after he keeps making his case for more minutes. Nwora finished with 11 points on 5-for-12 shooting (1-for-5 from three), three boards, a pair of blocks in just over 20 minutes.
All in all, the Bucks got a consistent lift from well within their bench unit. That always won’t be the case as we’ve generally seen over the year, so it’s good to see such performances occur when they do happen.
Khris Middleton rises in Milwaukee Bucks’ record books in win over Orlando Magic
Last but not least, Khris Middleton bounced back his prolific struggles when he was last in action for the Bucks’ loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
That was apparent not long after the opening tip as Middleton was getting to his patented spots and hitting shots off the dribble, which was far from the case against Dallas. Along with that, Middleton was looking very smooth when operating with the ball in his hands and dishing out precise passes to his teammates.
It was in the second half where Middleton drained the 1,000 3-pointer of his Bucks career and surpassed Terry Cummings for 11th place on the Bucks’ all-time scoring list. Just as we’ve seen from Antetokounmpo over the course of the season, Middleton’s name will keep on rising in the team’s record books in various categories as his Bucks career continues.
Middleton finished with a team-leading 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting (2-for-4 from deep), eight rebounds, five assists, two turnovers, a steal and a block each in 28-and-a-half minutes of action.
The Bucks will have a couple of days off before returning back to action by taking on the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday night. You’ll be able to catch the game on Bally Sports Wisconsin when it tips off at 7 P.M. CST.