The Milwaukee Bucks got surprised by the Orlando Magic on Tuesday, falling in Game 1 of their 1-8 series matchup. There wasn’t concern, necessarily, but there was some curiosity about what the Bucks would do in Game 2, as they looked a bit lethargic during the seeding games in the Bubble.
The answer: A 111-96 win in which Giannis Antetokounmpo went for 28 points, 20 rebounds, and five assists. The Magic put up a fight, but it was not quite enough after an abysmal first quarter. Before all eyes turn to Game 3 to see if the Bucks have found their way, we looked back on everything what happened on Thursday evening.
The Bucks Needed That
It wasn’t that Milwaukee lost a game in this series — which, to be clear, it should have swept — it’s that the team lose Game 1 after going 3-5 during its seeding games and looking vulnerable for the first time all season. The Bucks are a team that is reliant on its rhythm. The high-powered offense needs to be in a certain groove as it fires dozens of threes a game. The defense needs to be a collection of five players working in harmony. That wasn’t always happening during the seeding games, and during Game 1, that same thing happened against the Magic.
To try and make up for this, the Bucks came out and put the clamps on Orlando from the very start. The Magic had more turnovers (5) and personal fouls (4) than made field goals in the first quarter, going 3-for-24 in the frame. Milwaukee led by 12 at the end of the quarter, 21 at the end of the first half, and despite a few little flurries from Steve Clifford’s side in the third and fourth quarters, were able to come out on top.
Picking up a win was important for Milwaukee regardless, but picking up a relatively comfortable win in which they found the rhythm that they rode to the best regular season record in the league was quite important. Now, it’s on them to take care of business three more times in this series before moving onto the conference semis.
Khris Middleton Needs To Find His Shot
Middleton is an absolutely wonderful basketball player — he did not make back-to-back All-Star Games and get handed a monster contract last offseason on accident. He is crucial to what the Bucks try to do, especially on offense, where his ability to hit shots and act as a creator is crucial to making sure the entire machine is humming.
While Middleton is playing hard and doing some things well — he’s averaging 5.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists in two games this series — his shot has abandoned him through two games. In Game 1, he went for 14 points on 4-for-12 shooting from the field and 2-for-6 shooting from three. Game 2 was even worse: two points, 1-for-8 shooting from the field, 0-for-4 from deep.
This will maybe get it done against Orlando, but against Boston or Miami or Toronto, it’s a recipe for disaster. Watch him in Game 3. It might be in Milwaukee’s best interest to get him in a groove.
The Magic Can Win At Least One More In This Series
These guys play hard as hell, man. Orlando’s offense is very, very reliant on Nikola Vucevic being able to go to work against a stout Milwaukee interior defense, and he managed to do this on Thursday with 32 points and 10 rebounds. From there, they really need at least one of Terrence Ross or Evan Fournier to get hot, and for the backcourt duo of D.J. Augustin and Markelle Fultz to hit shots when they are available.
Their first half was absolutely wretched, and as such, they needed a whole lot to go right if they wanted to win on Thursday. That did not happen. But they did hold the Bucks to 36.6 percent shooting from three, force 20 turnovers, and get to the free throw line 31 times. With how hard they play, how they are able to defend, and the possibility that they add a very good player to their rotation in Aaron Gordon if he can return from injury, they can take at least another game off of Milwaukee.