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Burn this one from your minds folks, the Milwaukee Bucks played an absolute stinker against the Orlando Magic, losing 126-117. After a forgettable first quarter, the Bucks trailed considerably, 36-20 to Orlando after 16 points from D.J. Augustin. Jonathon Simmons nailed a three to end the second, but the Bucks were able to make a dent in Orlando’s lead and went into halftime down 61-52. Milwaukee took its first lead in the third, but coughed it up quickly as the Magic went into the fourth up 91-80. Unfortunately, the fourth quarter only got worse, and Milwaukee went into the abyss with a loss.
One of the core tenets of a team competing for the Playoffs is to not get punked by a team that has the third worst record in the NBA. Unfortunately, the Bucks violated that tonight with an abhorrent defensive performance that surrendered any shots the Magic wanted all night. They were no saving graces.
Giannis Antetokounmpo at least looked like his solid self again, tallying 38 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three steals. He took it to Jonathan Isaac all evening, the Magic had no answer for him, but no one else showed up to help out.
Khris Middleton came in tonight and got his 22 points on 8-16 shooting, which did include an encouraging 4-6 from deep. Eric Bledsoe added in 20 points, eight assists and four steals with Jabari Parker chiming in through 12 points of his own. Brandon Jennings followed up his debut with a forgettable, but more realistic, two points, one rebound and one steal in just nine minutes.
Orlando had two firecrackers out on the court tonight, with Jonathon Simmons stroking it all evening to score a career-high 35 points total on 7 of 12 shooting from deep. Meanwhile, D.J. Augustin slaughtered Milwaukee’s point guards tonight with penetration and sharpshooting, ending with 32 points on 6-9 from deep. Nikola Vucevic added in 22 points.
Stat That Stood Out
18-34 - The Orlando Magic shot 18-34 from deep (52.9%), an incredible performance of efficiency and propensity given they average just over 29 attempts from there per game. Simmons and Augustin could get sweet looks whenever they wanted and Milwaukee’s rotations were woeful. Winning when your defense is a sieve all night is nigh impossible, especially when your opponent is hot.