ORLANDO, Fla. — Going into Friday night’s game, the Milwaukee Bucks knew they would be in a 48-minute battle against the Orlando Magic. No matter how many players are injured or how big a deficit they might face, the Magic never stop competing.
And that’s exactly what the Bucks received.
The Bucks led by nine points with a little more than five minutes remaining, but the Magic never stopped chipping away, getting back within two possessions to turn the final three minutes into complete chaos. There were shot-clock violations, fouls, jump balls, clutch free throws, tough rebounds and a clock malfunction. When the dust settled, the Bucks emerged victorious with a hard-fought 109-106 victory over the Magic. Orlando had started the night as the No. 4 seed in the East, with the Bucks fifth.
With the win, the Bucks, who are 20-16 after starting the season 2-8, are now in the East’s fourth spot, percentage points ahead of the Magic.
“Great win. We definitely needed this win,” Antetokounmpo said.
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While there were many frantic plays late, one showed how the Bucks could find their way through manic situations, one that is not all that difficult to predict or understand.
With a three-point lead and a little more than two minutes remaining, Damian Lillard brought the ball up after the Bucks forced a turnover on a shot-clock violation. The Bucks didn’t worry about disguising what they were about to do on offense. While Lillard took the ball to the right side with Giannis Antetokounmpo there, the Bucks’ other three players stood on the left.
There was little doubt about what was coming and there wasn’t much the Magic could do to stop it.
“It’s simple,” Brook Lopez (eight points, three blocks) said. “We understand the power of that two-man pick-and-roll.”
Antetokounmpo’s sprinting left-handed layup on the right side of the hoop gave him 41 points for the game and the Bucks a five-point lead. Antetokounmpo scored 10 points in the fourth quarter and Lillard added 10 of his 29 points in the fourth. While they dominated different portions of the final 12 minutes with their own brilliant individual offensive talent, the Antetokounmpo-Lillard two-man game will be the thing that can unlock the Bucks’ full potential and make them a team worth fearing come playoff time.
“We told ’em during a timeout,” Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said, “please, if you get to the two-man game, you roll Giannis. Either Dame’s gonna get a layup or you’re going to get a layup because they can’t guard both and it was good to see them do it. And Giannis gets a layup.
“Those are big plays for us and it builds trust. It builds trust between them two. It builds trust when we draw up something and they do it. All that stuff is important for us.”
The possession prior to his driving layup, the Antetokounmpo and Lillard had run the same action.
While Antetokounmpo missed the free throws that followed — a worrying trend, as Antetokounmpo made just 3 of 10 free throws on Friday and is now a career-worst 59.1 percent at the charity stripe for the season — the Bucks were able to get an easy look that forced a foul from Magic forward Paolo Banchero, who returned to action after missing two months because of a torn oblique muscle.
“Way better. Way, way better,” Antetokounmpo said when asked if he feels that his chemistry has improved with Lillard in the two-man game this season. “As I’ve said, every game that goes by, our chemistry, it’s getting better and better and better.
“We know each other’s spots. We know how to play with one another. We know what one another wants to accomplish while they have the ball or when they’re playing off the ball and it’s something that we do. There’s going to be a lot of times you’re going to see this game, the next 45 games that we’re going to play, plus playoffs, it’s going to be a lot of times that it’s just going to be a two-man game. It has to be that way, especially in the last five minutes.“
While those possessions showed their potential as a duo, a turnover by Lillard with a little more than a minute remaining showed the need for more reps and continued growth in the two-man game.
Because they’re still learning to work with each other, Lillard and Antetokounmpo did not properly attack this switch. In most situations, Lillard getting to work one-on-one against a big man is favorable, but it was the wrong choice in this scenario. With quick feet and long arms, Jonathan Isaac is a tough matchup for Lillard to attack. Rookie forward Tristan da Silva, on the other hand, could not have provided the same resistance against Antetokounmpo.
There could be some concern about da Silva fouling Antetokounmpo and sending him to the line if the two-man game quickly shifts gears to let the two-time MVP post up a mismatch on the right block. That one-on-one matchup would have been better for the Bucks and it might have drawn a double-team that could have opened up Lillard or one of the three shooters on the weak side.
In the end, though, the two-man action ended up being only a portion of a win that helped show the Bucks may have a bit more grit and toughness than they have shown at times throughout this season. Heading into Friday’s game, they were just 7-9 on the road, but fought hard for a victory against a tough defensive team.
“You know that we have to come to the game you’ve got to have the mindset you’ve got to play 48 minutes, it’s going to be a very, very physical game,” Antetokounmpo said. “They play very, very big. The approach towards the game is that you’ve got to be ready for 48 minutes and in order for you to stay in the game you’ve got to play hard and that’s what we did.”
For a team that hasn’t shown an ability to compete consistently on the road, it was a step forward. That, however, can quickly be negated if the Bucks don’t bring the same level of fight and focus to New York City for a matinee showdown with the Knicks on Sunday.
(Photo of Giannis Antetokounmpo: Julio Aguilar / Getty Images)
