MILWAUKEE – Undoubtedly, Orlando’s victory over the Milwaukee Bucks – owners of the NBA’s best record and winners of six straight coming into Saturday – deserves an asterisk affixed to it, but at this point in the season the Magic don’t care how they rack up wins in what has quickly become a stirring mid-season playoff push.
Milwaukee superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was held out with a sore right knee, but that did little to take away from the suddenly surging Magic’s 103-83 whipping of the Bucks at Fiserv Forum. It also mattered little to Orlando that Milwaukee played a night earlier in Dallas as it was shooting a solid 46.8 percent from the floor and hitting 10 of 27 3-pointers in building a lead as large as 25 points.
``It’s the NBA, man, and no matter who’s playing and who’s not playing these are the best players in the world and you’ve got to treat the game accordingly,’’ said guard Terrence Ross, who scored 13 of his 15 points in a second quarter that gave the Magic a lead they would not surrender. ``You’ve got to be prepared and come out mentally ready because if you don’t you can let a game slip away.’’
Orlando (24-32) won for the fourth time in the past five games and beat Milwaukee (41-14) for the first time in three tries this season. The Magic came into Saturday just three games back of the slumping Miami Heat for the No. 8 seed and their hot play of late is also keeping pressure on No. 9 Detroit and No. 10 Washington.
``I just told (the Magic players) that we’ve really put a good string together, really six or seven games where there are things we could do better, but we’ve had a better purpose and we hang in games and it’s been a tough schedule,’’ Magic coach Steve Clifford said. ``We’re playing better. Hopefully, it’s just like all good teams do. (Milwaukee) has the best record and they’re still getting better. Hopefully, that’s what we’re doing now.’’
If the Magic and the Bucks play again this season, it would be in the playoffs and most likely as a No. 1 vs. No. 8 seed in the first round. Assuredly, that would be just fine for a Magic franchise looking to snap a six-year postseason drought. Next time around, though, the Bucks will almost certainly have Antetokounmpo, a 6-11, 242-pounder who has evolved into one of the NBA’s most unstoppable forces.
``Obviously, without Giannis (the Bucks) are a different team because he brings so much attention, so it’s a different look,’’ Magic all-star center Nikola Vucevic said. ``So, yeah (Antetokounmpo) was out, but we still wanted to do our jobs and get the win. Obviously, it did help a little bit that he wasn’t out there because he’s such a great player, but I’m glad we took care of business.’’
Vucevic finished with 15 points, 17 rebounds and five assists in 26 minutes before checking out of the game early to rest up for Sunday’s game in Atlanta. Second-year forward Jonathan Isaac shook off a shaky start to the night and finished with a team-high 17 points, six rebounds and three 3-pointers. It is the first time in Isaac’s 1 ½ seasons that he’s led the Magic in scoring.
``When the ball is going in the basket, it’s good for everybody,’’ said Isaac, who has played the best basketball of his young career over the past two weeks. ``I just have to continue to shoot the ball, be aggressive with it and make shots.’’
Reserve point guard Isaiah Briscoe also played well off the Orlando bench, making his first four shots and drilled a 3-pointer while scoring nine points and handing out seven assists.
``I’m just trying to keep the team organized and everything starts with defense,’’ said Briscoe, a New Jersey native who played professionally last season in Estonia. ``When we get a stop and get in transition, coach tells me, `Push the ball, push the ball,’ and I’m just taking what the defensive gives me.’’
Eric Bledsoe scored 19 points and Malcolm Brogdon added 14 points, but it wasn’t nearly enough for Milwaukee, which shot 32.6 percent from the floor and hit just six of 35 3-point shots. All-star forward Khris Middleton had 11 points and 12 rebounds, but he made just four of his 17 shots. Brook Lopez, who has made a major impact on the Milwaukee offense all season with his 3-point shooting, missed all six of his attempts from beyond the arc.
Milwaukee withheld Antetokounmpo because of what it termed to be right knee soreness. The all-star and leading candidate for the NBA MVP award played nearly 31 minutes on Friday in Dallas, scoring 29 points and grabbing 17 rebounds. Antetokounmpo was held out of action a night after the Bucks did the same with Middleton.
``The soreness and the pounding on his body is pretty significant,’’ Milwaukee coach Mike Budenholzer said before the game. ``I don’t think it’s a long-term thing, but back-to-backs and the loads that he puts himself through, for us, tonight he needs this.’’
The Magic lost the first two games of the season against the Bucks – once in Milwaukee and once in Orlando. In that game in Orlando, the Bucks had two days of rest, while the Magic had played the night prior in a difficult home loss to the Brooklyn Nets.
On Saturday, the roles were reversed as it was the Magic who had a decisive rest advantage. As the Magic were resting in their Milwaukee hotel, the Bucks were playing in Dallas. They won 122-107 thanks to 80 paint points, allowing them to weather the Mavs hitting a franchise-record 22 3-pointers.
The Magic will be back on the floor on Sunday night for one of their most taxing back-to-backs of the season. Orlando’s game in Milwaukee didn’t start until after 8 p.m. Central Time and it will lose an hour when travelling East. The Magic aren’t scheduled to arrive at their Atlanta hotel until 2:45 and will be back on the floor by 7:30 to face the Hawks.
Already up 10 at the half, Orlando pushed the lead to as much as 17 points in the third period when Gordon sank a midrange shot. Seconds earlier, Wes Iwundu and Isaac drilled 3-pointers on consecutive possessions that seemed to break the will of a Bucks team daring the Magic wings to shoot from the perimeter. Ultimately, Orlando led 79-64 at the end of the third period – a good sign considering that the Magic came into the night 16-7 when leading after three periods.
``We need everybody to make shots and when (Isaac) is making them it’s really big for us,’’ Vucevic said. ``We want him to shoot the ball and he has to shoot it with confidence when he’s open. If they go in, they do, and if not, they don’t. But he’s got to keep shooting because it keeps the defense with him. And when he makes them, it opens up a lot for us.’’
A first half that started dismally for the Magic ended in joy as Ross and Vucevic once again carried the offense and Orlando held a 59-49 edge at intermission. Orlando found itself in an 8-0 hole after the first three minutes when it opened the game with four straight misses.
However, after a time out, the Magic got on track with a 14-4 burst. And in the second period, the Magic outscored Milwaukee 39-30 to lead by as much as 12 points.
Fresh off two performances where he scored 26 and 32 points, Ross heated up quickly on Saturday night. He made five of his first eight shots – and all three attempts from 3-point range – for 13 points in 13 minutes of action. Ross has scored 20 points in consecutive games just three times in his seven-year career – two of them coming this season with the Magic.
Playing as well as they have all season, Ross feels the Magic have might something special going at just the right time right now.
``We’re trying to take it day by day, but we know that right now every game is valuable,’’ Ross said. ``Right now determines whether we’re going to be able to play for something meaningful in March. … The more that we win, the more things start to feel important and the gravity of it is there for us.’’
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