The Milwaukee Bucks continue their undefeated streak in the group play beating the Orlando Magic 114-109. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard carried the starting unit combining for 65 points. Bobby Portis played very well off the bench making up for the minutes when Giannis isn't on the floor. Portis had 22 PTS, 10 REB and 4 AST, he also had a +/- 11. Plus minus is the most analytical statistic in a box score, but in this scenario he has the 3rd best +/- in the game, 2nd being A.J. Green who should be starting over Taurean Prince. who had a whomping 0 PTS in 20 minutes. A.J. Green played better defense which is why he ended up playing 33 minutes off the bench scoring only 9 PTS, however, they were all threes which is what Milwaukee needs. In the later game somehow the Dallas Mavericks didn't get slaughtered by the Thunder with the performance Luka Doncic had. Kyrie Irving also struggled but at least he was aggressive in spots. The Thunders defense seemed to effect Irving when Doncic was unengaged and shot 5/15 FG. The Thunder shot 35 threes at halftime when they typically average 39 on the season, shooting 50 this game. They only made five more than the MAVs making that possibly the reason the MAVs stayed somewhat close, but the Thunder didn't force three pointers. The majority came in transition.
The Magic's loss was more entertaining than the Bucks win. I'll explain. The Orlando Magic did not have Paolo Banchero who has been out with an oblique injury after his hot start. Also missing was Franz Wagner who stepped in as that number one guy very well after Banchero went down, keeping the Magic above .600. Having those star players injured did not matter to the Magic. The game come down to a hoisted three pointer by Jalen Suggs so the Bucks could not foul allowing him to only shoot two free throws. Suggs had 32 PTS ,9 REB ,1 BLK and 4 STL. He had every right to shoot that shot based on his game performance and situation but he was unable to tie it up. Overall, the Magic needed more offense earlier in the game to win this one. The defense of the two bigs Wendell Carter Jr. and Goga Bitadze played solid against Giannis. Goga having the much better game with 12 PTS, 14 REB, 4 AST and 1 BLK. He had one possession where TNT had Head coach Jamahl Mosley wired up and told Goga to bring the ball up. Similar to a Domantas Sabonis he walked the ball up to three point line and threw a bullet pass right under the basket to a cutting Suggs. Another big that played impressively was Mo Wagner who had 13 PTS on 6/6 shooting off the bench. Anthony Black also had a great game off the bench with 17 PTS, 6 REB, 3 AST and 3 STL. This all around team production gives me more faith in the Magic long term than the Bucks because they have yet to get consistent contribution from role players other than Portis. Whereas the Magic have played such good ball that before I thought the teams only hope was Banchero. But now I could see even if Wagner and Banchero can't play at 100% I could still give this team an interesting fighting chance. Tne Magic defense will always be there and it was in the Bucks game, however, a lot of the Magics turnovers weren't forced, bailing out the Bucks. Having Wagner or Banchero eliminates some of the turnovers like Suggs having four turnovers to one assist and rookie Tristan Da Silva having three turnovers and zero assists. On the other end you have Khris Middleton, the only attribute he seems to have is team chemistry, having zero points and eight assists. Middleton coming back from two ankle surgeries, came off the bench and only shot twice missing both. It does not look like Middleton will be producing the same offense as he seems timid scoring the ball. The Bucks already struggle on defense and Middleton was able to keep in-front of his man ,but I fear the ankle surgeries might make Middleton a matchup hunt. In essence, even with Middleton being currently active,I have more faith in the Magic waiting for one of their stars to come back and would take the Magic over the Bucks.
No need to keep bashing the Doncic performance. It did seem like a pure rarity of off night shooting for both Irving and Doncic. Luka made his performance worse by looking almost content not finding an offensive rhythm. It never looked like he had the motor to play a quarterfinal game and seemed as if it was a regular season loss on a Tuesday. On the flip side, Naji Marshall looked like Playoff PJ Washington against the Thunder, shooting 7/11FG for 19 PTS. Even before Washington's injury Marshall has looked better defensively having more of a motor and his scoring doesn't just come from the catch and shoot but almost a Marcus Morris type bag. Mavericks don't have that crazy offensive gut punch that they did last year and that's going to need to be found in order to make it to The Finals again.
Shai Gilegous-Alexander came ready, shooting threes like the rest of his team while also shooting his go-to mid range fade. Shai ended with 39 PTS, 8 REB, 5 AST and 3 STL an all around dominant performance on both ends. Even though I said it never felt like OKC fully obliterated the struggling MAVs, Shai never let the MAVs get a true run going, getting big time stops and timely buckets. Even with a big point total the ball was shared evenly. All five starters endedin double digits. In both opening day article and my CAVs article I talk about the big blowout shooting the Celtics have done to their Eastern Conference contending rivals. Where yes, the CAVS were in their game more than the Knicks, but still didn't really have a chance due to the insane clip from three the Celtics are shooting. It's just interesting that these contender games have ended with insane three point attempts. I am curious to see how the Thunder play the Celtics because they don't want to get into a shootout with the Celtics.
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