3 things to watch in Milwaukee Bucks rematch with Orlando Magic

Can the Milwaukee Bucks avoid a letdown quarter against the Orlando Magic?

The good news is that the Bucks have won three straight games, are above 0.500, and are getting back healthy. Those are the things that matter most right now and overall, it’s a good time to be the Bucks.

However, from a process standpoint, there have been some issues. One of the big ones is not putting teams away when they’re ahead and letting them back into games because their offense stalls.

In each of the last three wins, the Bucks held a double-digit lead. They led by 12 against the Los Angeles Lakers, 20 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, and 29 against the Magic. All of those games became close again due to big runs from their opponents.

I can give them a pass for the Lakers game because a 12-point lead in today’s NBA isn’t all that much, but they still allowed multiple runs from the Lakers to get them into the game.

The games against the Thunder and Magic were more concerning since the teams aren’t as good and they have 20+ point leads. The Bucks offense fell apart in the second half against the Thunder, posting just 38 points, including only 16 in the fourth quarter. They were lucky the Thunder also couldn’t hit shots, scoring 42 total points in the second half.

The Magic ripped off a 21-3 run in the fourth quarter against the Bucks on Saturday with the offense grinding to a halt once again with 21 points in the final frame.

Part of this is due to what The Athletic’s Seth Partnow calls the “rubber band effect,” but also due to players like Holiday and Khris Middleton still finding their legs on offense. We’ll see if they can build a big lead and keep it against the Magic this time around.