As I settled in to take in my first West Orlando News NBA game in nearly two years I was like “man I simply want to stay awake.” Neither the Magic (4-6), and in the cellar of the Southeast division of the Eastern Conference nor the Milwaukee Bucks (4-3) and third in the Central division of the same conference was anything exciting to pay attention to on my Friday night. Heck, Friday night is party night (although I’m partied out). Anyway, here’s how it went down.
The Magic fell behind by 13 points in the opening seven minutes Friday night, they looked to be in for a blasting by the Milwaukee Bucks. Things were looking pretty ugly for a minute there. I remember thinking to myself how I really didn’t want to cover this “sleeper” of a game.
Instead, I saw flashes of hope and ended up feeling refreshed about my assignment. The truth is the Magic finally seemed to show some true grit. The win at home was a nice complement to their 97-95 road win over the Knicks at Madison Square Garden Wednesday past.
Olapido returns to provide a spark for Magic.
The return of Victor Oladipo was the catalyst as he picked up some scoring slack, directed the Magic defense and ignited his team defensively. Coupled with a solid double-double from Tobias Harris, the Magic won for the fourth time in their past six games by defeating the Milwaukee Bucks 101-85.
Oladipo dropped 13 points in his first game since fracturing a bone in his face last month, while Harris was good for 26 points and 10 rebounds. Nikola Vucevic had a not so quiet 18 points and nine rebounds while Evan Fournier, dropped 11 of his 15 points in the third quarter.
At one point in the first quarter, the Bucks had outscored the Magic 18-0 in the paint. Brandon Knight scorched them for 19 points in the first half, Knight had just one field goal the rest of the way after Oladipo locked him down.
Magic finally awaken in third quarter
The Magic went ahead to stay with a 16-4 run in the third quarter. Harris, the former member of the Bucks, came within five points of tying his career high. He played with a certain vigor about himself and it showed in the box score.
Jabari Parker, the second pick in the NBA Draft, had a quiet night with four points and two rebounds in 24 minutes for the Bucks. He got in to foul trouble early. When he returned to the game in the third…out came the hacksaws again so again he sat. Ahhh NBA rookies.
As the minutes counted down, Magic Coach Jacque Vaughn sat his starters and emptied the bench midway through the final quarter which saw the Magic break the century mark with 101 points in this contest. The victory was the 17th straight by the Magic over the Bucks in Orlando. Their last home loss to them came on Dec. 29, 2004.
The magic hit the runway immediately for a showdown in the Nation’s Capital Saturday night versus the Washington Wizards at 7 p.m. Hey, I only cover Magic home games folks. They feed me well, and I dig the atmosphere only about 45 minutes west on I-4 in the City Beautiful. Saturday, you can catch me at Richard Moore Gymnasium on the camps of Bethune-Cookman University for the first home game for the CageCats cause I Got NEXT!
