The Bucks took a 2-1 series lead after a dominant 121-107 victory over the Magic in Game 3 Saturday. After a shocking loss in Game 1, the top-seeded team from the East came out in this game to prove that it is far and away the superior team compared to the Magic. On offense, Khris Middleton finally got it for the Bucks, as the All-Star guard finished the afternoon with 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while committing to more than 40 percent of his 3s. Giannis Antetokounmpo returned in an MVP appearance to the tune of 35 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. On defense, Milwaukee swung all over Orlando, never letting the Magic get too comfortable to pick up shots.
Orlando tried to make a run in the fourth quarter, cutting what was a 34-point lead down one point to 15, but Giannis ‘intensity, in addition to the Bucks’ straight defense, never put much pressure on Milwaukee. . Nikola Vucevic led the way again for the Magic, scoring a 20-point performance that was less efficient than his previous two games. The Bucks seem to be the dominant force they have been all season regular season, and are now just two games away from advancing to the next round. Game 4 of this series will take place on Monday at 1:30 p.m. ET. Here are three takeaways from the Bucks win.
1. Khris Middleton finally arrived
In the first two games of this series, Middleton was essentially non-existent for the Bucks on offense, and combined for just 16 points, while shooting 25 percent from the field and 20 percent from deep. It was incredible out of character from what we would expect in Middleton’s regular season, as he averaged 21 points and shot well over 40 percent off the field and off the arc.
The All-Star striker was about to snap out of his shot at some point, and in Game 3, the lid finally came off the edge for him as he put up an efficient 17 points on 46.7 percent of the field and 3 of 6 shots from deep. Middleton played this time with much more confidence, and took advantage of smaller defenders like Terrance Ross who tried to control him. While it was never time to sound the alarm about Middleton’s lack of scoring through the first two games of this series, it’s encouraging to know that he’s already managed things in the post season. Milwaukee is an incredibly deep team. However, this team relies heavily on the offensive play of Giannis and Middleton. After breaking through the ceiling on Saturday, he can now simply build on that momentum and continue to take advantage of mismatches against Orlando for the remainder of this series.
The Bucks finally looked like the Bucks … for three-quarters
For those quarters of action, Milwaukee actually looked like the dominant presence we had expected from this team all season. The Bucks did not give the Magic an easy appearance, and put pressure on other boys in the team who did not name Nikola Vucevic to defeat them. Some of what makes this team such an intimidating presence is the intensity with which Giannis plays. Even when Milwaukee went up by 30 points, the reigning MVP shot on the floor for loose balls and wrote after every fastbreak dunk. He is the engine that makes this team not only attack, but also on the other side of the ball, and his energy is reflected in the rest of the Bucks roster.
However, while the Bucks held strong through three quarters, the fourth quarter got a little dicey when the Magic began to make out. Although the game was never really close, Milwaukee still allowed Orlando to finish the game from nearly 50 percent from deep and 44 percent from the field. It allowed guys like Ross and DJ Augustin to score 20 points and managed to turn the ball over 19 times, resulting in 20 points for Orlando. The start of this game aligned with defensive naughty team Milwaukee has been all season, but the tail end of this game should still be used as an example for the Bucks that they still need to tackle something to do before taking thicker opponents deeper opposite in the postseason.
Credit to the Magic for fighting back in the fourth quarter
Orlando has already taken the unthinkable, that a game away stole from the overpowering Bucks, and that was without Jonathan Isaac and Aaron Gordon. The last two outings have not gone away in favor of the Magic, and by three-quarters of Saturday’s game it turned out that Orlando was just giving up. Shots did not fall for everyone as they were in Game 1, and frustration set in in the second quarter when James Ennis and Marvin Williams sat in after the Bucks’ lead swelled to well over 20 points. Ennis and Williams began to shake each other, and both were eventually removed from the game. At that point in the game, it looked like the Magic were just frustrated and defeated, but on the back of Augustin’s 10 points in the fourth quarter, Orlando Milwaukee made a bit of a swing and cut the lead to 12 points. It didn’t get any closer then, but after a disastrous three-quarter for the Magic, at least Steve Clifford can take comfort in knowing that his players showed some fighting at the end of the game.
