Milwaukee vs. Orlando: Bucks Take Series, Move On From Magic To Heat

It’s nice to talk about basketball again, isn’t it? There’s much more in the world going on that’s bigger than basketball, but that doesn’t preclude us from cheering on the Milwaukee Bucks. And cheer we shall, as they closed out the Orlando Magic with a 118-104 victory and will face the Miami Heat in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Do you think Giannis is ready?

The Bucks took a few minutes to warm up, but the Magic committed a number of unforced errors and Milwaukee was able to ease into a double-digit lead. Threes were dropping early, but Orlando found some life and the Bucks carried a 26-21 lead at the end of the first quarter. At the start of the second, the Milwaukee offense hit a bit of a rut, but Giannis Antetokounmpo continued his efficient assaults on the rim and the threes kept falling, and the lead ballooned up to 67-50 by halftime.

The third quarter rolled around, and the Bucks put their collective foot down and said “okay, we’re taking this game.” Perhaps it was the twenty-plus point deficit that the Magic were flirting with, or the fact that they were so close to being able to escape this forsaken bubble, but it seemed like Orlando just had nothing to offer. The Magic did answer with a fourth-quarter barrage cut the deficit all the way down to 3 (partly because Giannis earned himself four fouls in the third quarter), but order was quickly restored and the Bucks cruised to victory.

Three Strike-Related Tweets

Bonus Bucks Bits

• The league held a moment of silence to commemorate the passing of NBA player Clifford Robinson, Arizona coach Lute Olson, and actor Chadwick Boseman, all of whom died in the last 24 hours.

• Bucks guard George Hill was not on the floor during the playing of the national anthem, but rejoined the team right afterwards. Why? Well...find out at the bottom of this section.
• Ersan Ilyasova entered the game early in the first quarter, partially because Khris Middleton earned an early pair of personal fouls. This is only notable because first quarter Ersan minutes should never, ever happen again.
• Bucks color commentator Marques Johnson was not working the game today, but he had some pretty good reasons!
• In the second quarter, Magic head coach Steve Clifford used a challenge to overturn a block, and was successful. Usually this happens with Giannis, but this play instead involved Brook Lopez. Bucks fans everywhere were generally pleased with the decision, since coaches challenges don’t regenerate.

• In the first half, Milwaukee had a trio of fouls on three pointers. They’ve been doing that an awful lot in the bubble, and one wonders if that’s going to come back to bite them later in the postseason.
• Ladies and gentlemen, Marvin Williams. The wily vet went 4-4 from deep and showed the type of versatility that Milwaukee wanted when they targeted him on the buyout market. It was The Marvin Williams Game.
• I...don’t know.

• Milwaukee closed the competitive portion of the fourth quarter with Giannis-Khris-Marvin Williams-George Hill-Eric Bledsoe. The lineup looked fast and moved the ball well, helping push things to a close.
• This is why it’s okay that Giannis takes all those threes. Every so often, you’re gonna need it.

• Let’s turn our attention to the Heat. Here’s what we have so far:

• George Hill: leader of men, taker of shits.