Mario Hezonja showed a glimpse of why he was worthy of a top-10 selection in last year's draft, helping the Orlando Magic hold off the Milwaukee Bucks, 107-98, inside the Amway Center Monday evening.
Some late Henzonja magic (pun intended) resulted in him scoring eight of Orlando's final 13 points after a late fourth quarter push by the Bucks.
The Bucks trailed by as many as 20 points, however, the second unit (in addition to Khris Middleton) eventually fought back and trimmed that lead down in the second half from 20 to four with 5:42 remaining in the fourth.
That's when the rookie Hezonja stepped in and did his damage. Hezonja responded with a clutch three after Milwaukee sliced Orlando's lead, before hitting another soon after and sealing the game up at the free-throw line. He finished the game with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting with three triples and seven assists.
Greg Monroe led the Bucks with 23 points, yet the Bucks' performance on the defensive end inside was troublesome. The Magic scored 54 points in the paint, with 42 coming in the first half in no small part thanks to Dewayne Dedmon and former Buck Ersan Ilyasova. The two combined for 26 points early on and missed just two shots from the floor. The majority of the points each of them scored came inside on simple cuts and clean ups near the basket. Ilyasova finished with 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting (efficiency!), while Dedmon ended up posting 17.
Khris Middleton and Jabari Parker each added 17 points for the Bucks, while Giannis Antetokounmpo wasn't given much room on the floor. He finished with 11 points only seven shots, nine rebounds and three assists, but also picked up five fouls and five turnovers.
The loss drops the Bucks to 33-48, tied for the ninth/tenth slots in the lottery with a guarantee that they'll finish no worse than the 10th. Eighth seeded Sacramento has an opportunity to make it a three-way tie if they win in Phoenix later Monday night, while New York is one game up at 32-49 and finishes the seaon in Indy tomorrow night. The rest of the 7-10 teams finish the season on Wednesday when the Bucks host the Pacers, the Kings travel to Houston (who are still battling for a playoff spot), and Denver travels to Portland.
Tidbits
— There was a small scare in the fourth quarter after Parker headed to the locker room after this awkward fall. Jason Kidd said after the game that he is fine, which you'd hope considering he returned to finish the game a few minutes later. It's not clear exactly what he might have tweaked, but the good news is that he landed on his non-surgically-repaired right leg.
Here's what happened to Jabari. Landed awkwardly on his knee but he's back on the bench now. pic.twitter.com/MRmfXvIMwk
— Aron Yohannes (@AronYohannes) April 12, 2016
— The Bucks struggled to move the ball well throughout the game. They only assisted on 18 of their 41 made baskets.
— Ilyasova's 22 points was his second-highest point total in a game this year (23 is the current high). In the previous two matchups against the Bucks this season, he scored only 13 points on 4-of-17 shooting.
— Milwaukee had six turnovers in the fourth quarter, which didn't allow them to make up any ground when they needed to.
— Greivis Vasquez hit a 3-pointer for only the second time since coming back from his foot injury. He is now 3-of-15 from deep since March 30. However, he did throw this pretty lob to Jabari in the second quarter:
VASQUEZ LOB TO JABARI. pic.twitter.com/2pT2I0zBVe
— Aron Yohannes (@AronYohannes) April 11, 2016