Bucks 117, Magic 108: After building a big lead, Milwaukee struggles to hang on against a weak opponent

Sometimes, the schedule makers can create problems for a team and sometimes it can set one up for success.

The defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks had not won more than two games in a row all season, a stat that changed Saturday night when one of the league’s worst teams came into Fiserv Forum in the Orlando Magic.

The Bucks (9-8) climbed above .500 for the first time in nearly a month and did indeed win their third straight game with a 117-108 victory over the Magic, who have the most losses in the Eastern Conference at 4-13.

“It feels good but we gotta stay humble, keep getting better, keep playing with one another,” Giannis Antetokounmpo said of the Bucks stacking wins for the first time. “Khris (Middleton) is going to keep getting more involved and getting to his spots and leading the team. And Jrue (Holiday)'s going to do the same and Bobby (Portis) is playing great.

“We’re getting better. We’re competing. So we’re getting better. And obviously that ends up in wins, but moving forward we’ve got to as I said stay humble and keep competing and hopefully we can grab some more wins.”

Box score:Bucks 117, Magic 108

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Unfortunately for the Bucks, the game is played on the court and not on paper and despite taking a 28-point lead in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter, head coach Mike Budenholzer had to put his starters back in the game to close it out as the Magic got to within two possessions at 107-101 with 2 minutes 5 seconds to play.

Orlando went on a 30-8 run that spanned nearly nine full minutes before Antetokounmpo split four free throws and then added a basket to give the Bucks a 111-101 lead with 60 seconds left. Orlando got it to within five points again with 17 seconds left, but Milwaukee was able to close it out.

The two teams will play each other again on Monday night.

Before he sat for the end of the third quarter and most of the fourth, Antetokounmpo dominated in scoring 26 points and pulling down 19 rebounds in 25 minutes to help the Bucks build what looked like an insurmountable lead.

He finished with 32 points and 20 rebounds. He also handed out five assists, blocked three shots and had two steals.

Portis scored a season-high 24 points and tied a career high with six made three-pointers. He also had his fourth double-double of the season with 15 rebounds. Middleton had 13 points and eight assists while Grayson Allen added 16 points.

The Magic was without its top scorer, guard Cole Anthony (19.6 points per game), who missed the game with a right ankle sprain, and had to spread its scoring out among 12 players. Until the fourth quarter, however, no one was able to take charge in any particular moment. Then, R.J. Hampton went off for 13 points and Mychal Mulder had 10 in that fourth quarter stretch.

Hampton finished with 19 and Mulder with 13.

Point guard Jalen Suggs, the No. 5 pick in the draft, led the Magic starters with 14 points on 4 of 15 shooting in 25 minutes.

It was too similar a game to Friday night’s against Oklahoma City when the Bucks saw a 20-point third quarter lead disappear before winning the final minutes.

“I think that our team just, we kind of just get relaxed, think the game’s over,” Portis said of the last two games. “We need to just learn how to just stomp on ’em and end the game earlier than what it is. Every time it’s seven, eight minutes left and teams start to build momentum, their coach is really just yelling at ’em, telling ’em to keep playing with confidence and all these teams they play hard, to the last second.

“Credit to all the teams that keep fighting and trying to stay in it, but we gotta do a better job of cleaning up the turnovers and taking quality shots down the stretch.”

The Bucks opened the third quarter against the Magic with a 13-0 run. That pushed a 12-point halftime lead to 75-50.

The Bucks outscored the Magic 24-9 through the first seven minutes of the quarter to go up 86-59. Portis ended the quarter with his sixth three-pointer with four seconds left to go into the fourth with a 96-71 lead.

Bench players nearly finished the game, but Budenholzer put Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday (11 points) back it the game at the 5:08 mark of the fourth quarter after the Magic cut the lead under 20 at 104-86.

“I saw them stay hot,” Budenholzer said of the Magic’s response to the Bucks' starters being put back in. “I think defensively, probably a few mistakes but also credit to Hampton – he’s making some tough shots, or higher level shots and Mulder is making high level shots and high level plays. They were in a good rhythm. We didn’t break that, so it would be good if that group that came back could break it but they didn’t.

“And a couple possessions where I don’t know if we got the best look or the best execution, a couple offensive fouls, a coupe no-calls, so we certainly weren’t our best in the fourth quarter no doubt.”

After sitting for so long, the Bucks starters had more turnovers (four) than points as Hampton continued to make baskets until Antetokounmpo stopped the bleeding.

“Guess I’m going to sound old but I’m 31 – my knees hurt at that point,” Holiday said of having to re-enter the game. “But that’s just the part of really just staying ready. I feel like mentally, you know, when you see a team make a run and they have the momentum I feel like the first thing you want to do when you get back out there is try to stop that momentum. But sometimes it’s hard. Like tonight, it was tough. I feel like we did a good job of managing it at some point but I’d probably say the hardest part I just knowing that you did what you wanted to do and you’re supposed to do but when they come back with that momentum sometimes it can be difficult getting back into that same type of mode where you gotta punch ’em in the mouth.”

The game was a homecoming for Orlando head coach Jamahl Mosley, who was hired as the Magic’s 15th head coach in July.

Mosley grew up in Milwaukee before moving to California before high school. He said before the game he had about 20 people in attendance and was looking forward to seeing those friends and family members. With the day off between games, he anticipated going back to his old neighborhood as well.