The first day of the NBA Playoff featured three stellar games that were tightly contested until the end, and one absolute drubbing in the form of the Raptors 134-110 win over the Nets. Day two looks an awful lot like we might see a repeat, with a pair of very intriguing 4-5 matchups, a highly anticipated 1-8 series between the Lakers and Blazers beginning, and then the Bucks opening their title quest against the Orlando Magic.
That is the series I’m here to write about and if you’re struggling to get too excited for it, well, it’s hard to blame you. The Bucks haven’t looked quite like their dominant selves from the regular season in the Bubble, but against a Magic team that scuffled into the 8-seed, in part due to the loss of Jonathan Isaac for the year with a torn ACL, there’s not a whole lot of intrigue in the same way the West’s 1-8 series has.
Still, there are some things to watch for in this series from both sides beyond the stars, and we’re going to explore the X-factors that might determine just how quickly this series ends.
Milwaukee Bucks: Eric Bledsoe
If there were ever a series for Eric Bledsoe to shake free of his woeful playoff performances of the past and build some confidence going into a postseason run where he is very much needed by this Bucks team, it’s right here. The Magic’s backcourt has long been their weakness and remains so, with D.J. Augustin and Markelle Fultz serving as their top ball-handlers and facilitators. Bledsoe has been truly awful in back-to-back postseasons in Milwaukee, but he unlocks so much for this offense if he’s good because he serves as the third creator that is hard to plan for when you have to spend so much time focusing on Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton. The Bucks don’t need Bledsoe to win this series, but they might need him come the next round or, at least, the conference finals. Getting off to a strong start might be huge for his confidence and creating a new playoff narrative for himself.
Orlando Magic: Markelle Fultz
On the other side, the Magic need Fultz to be really good off of the bench to keep their offense rolling when they go to the second unit. Milwaukee’s defense packs the paint and will look to make Nikola Vucevic’s life difficult with their length in the form of the Lopez brothers. That means it’ll be on the Magic guards to probe the paint to collapse the Bucks defense and make the right pass to the perimeter. The formula against Milwaukee has always been to simply try and shoot the lights out against a defense that is willing to give up those shots. It’s incumbent on Augustin and Fultz to create those looks, though, and Fultz gives them a dynamic that no one else on that team can replicate. If they hit shots, who knows, they might pull a game off the Bucks or at least make this a more entertaining series than expected. If not and their guards aren’t making Milwaukee work and scramble, it’ll be a short series and a short drive home for the Magic.