Giannis delivers winning response
Aaron Gordon roared and flexed, and Giannis Antetokounmpo lay prone under his own basket.
The 6-foot, 8-inch, 235-pound Orlando Magic forward challenged the Milwaukee Bucks’ two-time Most Valuable Player at the rim, and with five fouls and 10 minutes left in Monday night’s game in Orlando, Antetokounmpo provided what defense he could.
The dunk brought the Magic to within 88-86. Gordon’s scream billowed over the cheers of the few thousand fans at the Amway Center but Antetokounmpo and the Bucks’ response was understated – and in the end, more effectual – as the Bucks won 121-99.
Perhaps with fewer fouls Antetokounmpo would have tried to exact a measure of physical revenge on Gordon, but instead he calmly drained a three
pointer. Then, he assisted Bobby Portis on a three to extend the lead to 94-86 and force a Magic timeout.
“He’s growing in all ways and it was just two huge plays, because the momentum could’ve swung on the dunk,” Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said.
Antetokounmpo then took a rest with Brook Lopez subbing in for him, and after the Magic got a Mo Bamba bucket out of the stoppage the Bucks went on a 11-0 run thanks to the big man.
Lopez had a three-point play off a drive to the basket, created a steal off a Nikola Vučević pass that led to a Pat Connaughton three-pointer and finally tapped out an offensive rebound that led to a Khris Middleton three.
Suddenly, the Bucks were up 105-88 and the rout was on as the Bucks would eventually lead by as many as 25.
“There were two big threes right before he went out of the game; it was a little on edge there for a lot of the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth quarter (and) I thought (Antetokounmpo) made two, three big plays and got us to a point where we could maybe give him a break and see what happened,” Budenholzer said. “And then the guys stepped up, made a lot of plays. Bryn (Forbes) was great, Bobby was great off the bench. Khris got into a little pick-and-roll game and got going and we got some separation.”
After the Gordon dunk, which one would think could have created some momentum for the Magic, the Bucks went on an incredible 29-6 run that featured crisp ball movement, open threes and a defensive effort that finally shut down a short-handed, yet feisty Magic that was able to use Vučević and Gordon inside and out to hang close most of the game.
Antetokounmpo finished with 22 points and six rebounds to lead five Bucks in double figures. Middleton (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Jrue Holiday (11 points) reached that mark for the starters while Bobby Portis (20 points) and Bryn Forbes (14) hit double digits off the bench.
The Bucks bench scored 53 points and the team scored 50 in the paint, helping offset a 37.1% showing from distance.
Vučević led all scorers with 28 points and he pulled down 13 rebounds. Gordon scored 21 for the Magic.
The Bucks had been the league’s top shooting three-point team for the early part of the season, but they hit cold stretches against Utah (31%) and Cleveland (33.3%) while the bench also hit the skids offensively (12 points vs. the Jazz, 21 vs. the Cavaliers) in the last two games. While the long-distance shooting touch didn’t return in the first half against Orlando (5 for 19, 26.3%) all five bench players who saw the court scored at least one basket and contributed 29 combined points.
That effort, along with 11 points from Holiday, helped the Bucks take a 63-54 lead into halftime. Milwaukee led by as many as 12 in the opening half after trailing for most of the first quarter.
Portis continued his offensive hot streak, scoring 11 off the bench in the first half on 5-of-6 shooting.
Middleton had seven points and six rebounds in the first half and Antetokounmpo scored nine points in his return from a bout with back spasms that forced him to miss the game against Cleveland on Saturday.
Vučević and Gordon carried the load for the Magic in the first half, with Vučević scoring 19 points and pulling down nine rebounds while Gordon scored 10 and handed out seven assists.