MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee Bucks cruise right past the Orlando Magic 111-100 in a game where both teams were on the 2nd of a back to back.
Magic forward Aaron Gordon exited the game in the 3rd quarter due to left Achilles tendon pain. “It’s been going on for a little bit now and I’ve got to get it taken care of before I continue to play”, Gordon said of his injury.
This is a smart move by Gordon. We’ve seen many players attempt to play through pain only for it to cost them even more down the road. With Gordon and Aminu both out, it may very well be time for Orlando to think about making a trade for a forward.
It should be noted that Jeff Green is available to sign.
Giannis missed his second straight game with back soreness, but it didn’t seem to bother Milwaukee all that much as they defeated Orlando behind Kris Middleton’s 21 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and Ersan Ilyasova’s double-double of 17 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists. Ilyasova also connected on 5 of 6 threes.
“He was ballin’, I mean that’s as simple as to put it. He was everywhere. The hustle plays, the rebounds, the shots, the assists, just I mean his energy” Bucks guard Kris Middleton on Ilyasova’s performance.
The effort of the Bucks bench heavily contributed to their win over the Magic as they were lead by Robin Lopez and George Hill who each had 17 points.
“Their bench was really good, you know our bench really struggled”, said Coach Clifford.
Coach went on to say, “Again, if you want to look at it, it’s pretty simple; just look at the box score. I mean their bench guys played really well and when we broke our lineup, I thought our starters were fine both halves and you know we got messed up with AG [Aaron Gordon], I mean they had more guys play well than we did.”
For Orlando, Nikola Vucevic stuffed the stat sheet with 21 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and 3 steals. Evan Fournier poured in 23 points on 8/16 shooting.
Jonathan Isaac bounced back with a solid outing of 19 points, 9 rebounds and an impressive 7 steals. “I try to time things and try to guess what’s going to happen and it worked out tonight”, Isaac on his steals.
The gap at one point in the 2nd quarter was 19 points as the Bucks led 52-33 with 4:32 remaining. Orlando managed to cut the lead to 10 with 1:54 left in the 4th until Augustin fouled George Hill on a three-point make leading to a 4-point play.
This was another game the Magic let slip through their grasp this time overcoming a deficit to stay within striking distance of winning the game. However, the Bucks just proved to be too much to handle.
A trending theme for the Magic showed up again against the Bucks. The Magic won the turnover battle, but found themselves being dominated on the boards, getting crushed 57 to 35 in the rebounding battle. Milwaukee also amassed 13 offensive boards bolstering their second chance opportunities.
Fultz has been consistent this season, scoring in the range of 10-15 points (season average 11.5). Tonight he notably struggled against Milwaukee, posting a pedestrian stat line of 4 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists on 1/10 shooting.
Next up, Orlando has a chance to make it right with a win at home against the lowly Atlanta Hawks who could be without star point guard Trae Young.
