Bucks vs. Magic: Big ol’ rock fight

Milwaukee wins after 48 minutes of warfare

In a bit of a rock fight, the Milwaukee Bucks prevailed over the Orlando Magic, 109-106, to bag their third straight win. Giannis was the main scoring option for the Bucks, notching an impressive 41 points and 14 rebounds, while Damian Lillard had 29 to boot. For the Magic, Paolo Banchero was impeccable in his first game back after over two months off. Banchero notched 34 points on 5/8 from distance. Read our full summary of the game here and catch a six-minute audio recap on the Bucks+ podcast Bucks In Six Minutes below.

What Did We Learn?

In a game that felt like it could get out of Milwaukee’s grasp multiple times, the Bucks were able to get a bucket or lock down on defence and get a stop each time. They were down for most of the game but were able to keep it close until the fourth quarter and then make a run. Doc praised the team’s stick-to-itiveness postgame:

“A lot of breaks didn’t go our way… and we just kept playing. I loved the game, though. It was very competitive… I just think it’s great for us. They’re tough. The more games like that, the better.”

For example, you can look at the Bucks heading into the fourth quarter down 78-81. Bobby Portis, who’d had a tough game up to that point dealing with the Magic’s athletes, nailed two big jumpers to put the Bucks up one. As we’ll explore further, the ability to punch back in a game like this should provide great experience for the future.

Three Observations

The Giannis-Dame two-man game was a great option when they went to it.

Antetokounmpo and Lillard were able to leverage each other’s gravity to create offence through the pick–and-roll. In particular, I loved this one in crunch time:

I mean, this is just easy (for Giannis)!

When done well, this action is very hard to guard. Giannis said his pick-and-roll chemistry with Dame is “way better” this season compared to last:

“Every game that goes by, our chemistry is getting better. We know each other’s spots. We know how to play with one another. We know what one another wants to accomplish… there’s going to be a lot of times [going forward] where it’s just going to be the two-man game, especially in the last five minutes… So, our chemistry is getting better, and I think our two-man game right now is at a very high level.”

The Magic might be the worst matchup for Andre Jackson Jr. in the NBA.

Andre’s fit was quite iffy in this one. The Magic’s abundance of strong, lanky athletes really neutered his ability to play in the dunker spot, which meant he had to be spaced out much of the time. If that is the case, you better have a set plan on how he is used on kickouts. Do you have him shoot the corner threes? Can he flow right into a dribble handoff?

Furthermore, similar to the Spurs game, there wasn’t really an ideal matchup for him on the other end of the floor. Orlando plays through their forwards and centres. They aren’t trying to have Cole Anthony dominate the ball the same way Detroit does with Cade Cunningham, for example. Thus, Jackson played just 13 minutes and was a -7 in that time. Personally, I’m still fine with his fit against most teams, but there are nights when the matchup is just bad, and he can’t impact the game positively.

The Bucks opted to foul up three in the final seconds.

After Damian Lillard hit two free throws to put Milwaukee up three with 9.3 seconds left on the clock, the Bucks opted to foul Cole Anthony shortly thereafter before any Magic player could attempt a three. There are many things to consider when trying this: how the other team shoots free throws, how your team shoots free throws, how many timeouts the other team has, your trust in your defence to get a stop. Thankfully, Anthony missed the first one—which led to that whole clock malfunction drama—and they got the win. Of course, there have been a few situations in recent Bucks seasons where the whole “to foul or not to foul” hullabaloo has come into the spotlight.

Bonus Bucks Bits

• Giannis climbing up the all-time scoring leaderboard yet another spot:

• Tough one for AJ Green, who couldn’t keep his hot shooting up, going just 0/3 in 19 minutes.
• It is amazing that teams go into games with Orlando knowing that they want it to be a mud fight. They want it ugly. And the Magic are still able to hold most teams close to 100, no matter who is playing.
• Shoutout to Brook Lopez, who hit some big free throws down the stretch.
• I didn’t love the way they went over the screen on a lot of Anthony Black’s pick-and-rolls. It would be interesting to know if that was the plan from the coaching staff, but he’s shooting 25.9% from three this season, so it makes sense to get under screens and live with the results.
• Paolo is special, man. There are parts of his game that are very Giannis-esque, in my opinion.
• It remains very weird that Giannis’ jump shots often look smoother than his free throws. He was 3/10 in this game. Do people think it’s got anything to do with his long routine?

Up Next

Milwaukee’s two-game road trip concludes in the Big Apple, where they face the New York Knicks for a Sunday matinee at 2:00 p.m. Central. Watch the game on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin or stream it on our Playback and YouTube channels.

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