Magic limp into series against Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic begin their first-round playoff series Tuesday, with the top-seeded Bucks (56-17) heavily favored to advance over the eighth-seeded Magic (33-40). Both teams went 3-5 in the Orlando “bubble,” so there apparently wasn’t any residual home cooking for
the local squad.
Take a look at the Magic to get a sense of what the Bucks will be facing.
They’re hurting badly
Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer cited his team’s clean bill of health as a major positive despite a 3-5 showing inside the “bubble,” noting that not every team can claim the same. The Magic are in a different camp entirely.
The most recent blow came Friday when it was announced that 22-yearold center Mo Bamba would not participate in the playoffs and leave the bubble for a comprehensive evaluation in the wake of his positive coronavirus test in June. Bamba played just 11 minutes in two games inside the bubble and did not play in the final six.
Early in the restart, Magic center Jonathan Isaac tore his ACL and was lost for the rest of the year. He had suffered an injury to the same knee Jan. 1 and was expected to miss the rest of the seasonn but was able to return after the lengthy pandemic-related delay. He averaged 11.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and more than two blocks per game this season.
Not only that, but Michael CarterWilliams was wearing a walking boot during his team’s final game in the bubble, Aaron Gordon was nursing a hamstring injury, and Al-Farouq Aminu hasn’t been in the bubble at all with a knee injury. Terrence Ross had to leave the bubble and re-quarantine and Evan Fournier also missed time.
Gordon, one of the team’s leaders, doesn’t necessarily have a clean bill of health heading into the playoffs, and his 14.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game would be greatly missed if unavailable. More than that, Gordon has been the primary defender on Giannis Antetokounmpo and seemed to fare reasonably well, holding Giannis to below 50% shooting.
So who’s left?
Nikola Vucevic, who averages 19.5 points per game, and Evan Fournier are Orlando’s two chief threats. Fournier scored 26 and 23 points against the Bucks in December and shot 50% from three-point range. He averages 18.5 points per game this season for Orlando.
Fournier, however, hasn’t played in nearly a week because of an undisclosed illness, though he expects to be ready for the playoffs.
Vucevic, an all-star in 2018-19, might be one of the more underappreciated players in the NBA. He’s now second on the Magic’s all-time list of made field goals (his 4,044 trails only Nick Anderson’s 4,075), and he’s now 10th on the all-time scoring list in franchise lore. He’s third overall in Magic scoring, behind only Anderson and Dwight Howard.
When Vucevic was making his shots from deep, Orlando was in good shape. He hit 40% of his three-point shots in wins this season but only 29.9% in Orlando losses.
Defensively, this team is really quite good
The Magic ranked No. 1 in opponent second-chance points, No. 2 in opponent points-off-turnovers, No. 4 in opponent fast-break points and No. 9 in points in the paint. Orlando is the only team to finish in the top 10 in all four categories, so you can’t discount what this squad is capable of on defense.
But Orlando also fared better when it played more up tempo, and that’s something which plays into the hands of a Bucks team that also loves to ratchet up the possessions.
Is Markelle Fultz going to be a star after all?
Markelle Fultz immediately looked like a failed No. 1 overall pick with the 76ers when his awkward shot and injury troubles kept him from getting off the ground. He was traded to the Magic in February 2019 and has improved dramatically as the starting point guard in Orlando – still just 22 years old.
He averages 12.1 points and 5.5 assists for Orlando, physical enough for downhill rim attacks and shifty enough to elude defenders in the open court, making his matchup with Eric Bledsoe as one to circle. Even in the halfcourt, Fultz has been effective at getting in the paint, even if he isn’t all that effective from beyond the arc.
What’s been up with MCW?
Michael Carter-Williams was one of the more polarizing members of the Bucks roster from 2014-16, when he didn’t quite reach the potential of a recent Rookie of the Year selection (201314) after the Bucks traded Brandon Knight away in a big three-team trade.
Since his time in Milwaukee (he was traded for Tony Snell in 2016), MCW has played with Chicago, Charlotte, Houston and Orlando, and he’s back to averaging more than 18 minutes per game off the bench. In 2019-20, he’s not lighting it up from three-point range but is shooting a career best 29%, plus a career-best 83% at the free-throw line. He scores 7.2 points per contest.
Bubble banter
Wes Iwundu and Gary Clark have both been impressive inside the bubble, with Iwundu in particular averaging 8.0 points on 47% shooting. Clark has averaged 6.0 points on 52% shooting and will primarily take his shots from beyond the arc. He started the last four games and averaged more than 27 minutes per game.
Inside the bubble, Orlando went 1-5 against teams that made the playoffs.
How did the Bucks and Magic fare in the regular season?
Nov. 1: Bucks 123, Magic 91. After a slow start to the year, Milwaukee finally got an early-season blowout, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 29 points and 14 rebounds. Eric Bledsoe added 14 rebounds and Khris Middleton shot 7 of 9 from the field for 16 points.
Dec. 9: Bucks 110, Magic 101. One game after a huge win over the Clippers (and four straight wins by margins of 20 or more points), Milwaukee overcame a sloppy showing to win a 15th straight game. Giannis had 32 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists. Middleton hit a clinching three-pointer with 33 seconds remaining.
Dec. 28: Bucks 111, Magic 100. Ersanity! Ersan Ilyasova finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds, filling a void with Giannis sidelined by a sore back. Milwaukee overcame 24 turnovers (17 in the second half!)
Feb. 8: Bucks 111, Magic 99. Milwaukee led by 27 points in the third quarter but had to battle through a drought, including 12 straight misses in the final 5 1⁄2 minutes of the third quarter, and Orlando pulled to within 9 points. But Brook Lopez made his fifth three-pointer of the game in as many tries and Milwaukee ultimately led from wire to wire.