MILWAUKEE – When they last met on Jan. 19 at the Amway Center, it was the Milwaukee Bucks who had a decided rest advantage on a weary Orlando Magic squad.
Tonight, when the Magic (23-32) and Bucks (41-13) face off at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum, it will be Orlando that will be the better rested team. Also, the Magic will get what figures to be a significant break when superstar forward and leading MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo will miss the game because of right knee soreness, according to the Bucks.
Milwaukee played in Dallas and won 122-107 on Friday night. The Bucks, winners of six straight, were pushed to the limit after the Mavs tied a franchise record with 22 3-pointers. Antetokounmpo, who compiled 29 points, 17 rebounds and five assists, helped Milwaukee rack up a whopping 80 points in the paint and 36 off the fast break.
Antetokounmpo, eighth in the NBA in scoring for the season, has averaged 23 points, 10 rebounds and 3.0 assists while shooting 65.5 percent in two games previously against the Magic. Nikola Mirotic, who was acquired in a deal with the New Orleans Pelicans just before Thursday’s trade deadline, is listed as doubtful because of a strained right calf muscle.
While the Bucks were playing on Friday and arriving back in the early-morning hours of Saturday, the Magic were already in Milwaukee resting.
A similar scenario played out in January when the Bucks had two days of rest prior to playing a Magic team that had played a down-to-the-wire game the night before against the Brooklyn Nets. Predictably, the well-rested Bucks easily defeated the Magic the next night at the Amway Center. As players in the NBA are well aware, the schedule often given and taketh when it comes to preparation and rest before games, and they usually just have to adjust and adapt accordingly.
``It is what it is, and you acknowledge it,’’ Magic guard Evan Fournier said of having to play games with disadvantages in travel and rest from time to time. ``You know that the energy level, from one game to the next, could be really different. But every team goes through (difficult travel stretches), so you just have to fight through it and try to bring it every night.’’
The Magic come into tonight’s game having won three of their last four games. Orlando beat Indiana and Brooklyn before suffering a 10-point loss at Oklahoma City on Tuesday. As it turns out, that defeat did little to slow down the Magic’s momentum as they once again played well in Thursday’s 10-point win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Magic guard Terrence Ross comes into tonight having scored 26 and 32 points in his previous two games. In those games, he’s made 11 of 26 3-point shots to boost his accuracy rate to 38 percent from 3-point range on the season. It’s just the third time in Ross’ seven-year NBA career that he has scored at least 20 points in consecutive games –- two of which have come this season.
Milwaukee rested all-star guard Khris Middleton on Friday, but he is expected to return for tonight’s 9 p.m. ET tip.
Regardless of which players are available for the Bucks, Magic head coach Steve Clifford knows his team will have to play well to defeat a Milwaukee team coming off another impressive victory on Friday in Dallas. Clifford marvels at how the Bucks have turned conventional wisdom upside-down and have won with an old-school approach to defense.
``They’re fourth on offense and first on defense. You have to be able to score against them,’’ Clifford said. ``(Milwaukee’s Mike Budenholzer) is such a terrific coach. Their offense is terrific, but the difference in their team is their defense.
``In a (NBA) world where everybody is caught up in, `Don’t give up threes and you’ve got to switch everything (defensively)’ and we’re right along that same vain, (Milwaukee) is back to how everybody played it a few years ago,’’ Clifford continued. ``They give up the most threes, they help everywhere in a league where everybody is worried about helping too much and they’re great everywhere. They give up more threes than anybody and they’re the best defensive team in the league. So, it’s very interesting what they are doing.’’
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