
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 28 points and 17 rebounds and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Orlando Magic 118-104 on Saturday to close out the Eastern Conference series in five games.
The Bucks advanced to face Miami in the second round, beginning Monday.
Chris Middleton added 21 points and 10 rebounds for Milwaukee. The Bucks had a 21-point lead trimmed to three in the fourth quarter before regaining control with the help of timely outside shooting by Marvin Williams.
Williams scored all 12 of his points on 3-pointers, and Brook Lopez added 16 points for Milwaukee, which won four straight after dropping the opener.
Nicola Vucevic had 22 points and 15 rebounds for Orlando, while Evan Fournier added 18 points.
Milwaukee led 74-53 after a Middleton 3-pointer early in the second half and still was ahead by 20 with about three minutes left in the third quarter before Orlando suddenly pulled itself back into the game.
Consecutive 3s by Terrence Ross and Wes Iwindu, followed by D.J. Augustin’s floater, ignited a 24-7 run in which the Magic cut their deficit to 96-93 when Fournier hit a 3 with 7:37 to go.
The Bucks called timeout, starters checked back in, and Milwaukee quickly began to pull away again, starting with a Williams 3-pointer after Lopez’s offensive rebound.
Middleton followed with a fade from the top of the key, Williams added another 3, and Middleton’s free throw pushed the Bucks’ lead back to 105-93 with 5:24 left.
The game marked the first NBA action since the Bucks refused to take the court for a playoff game Wednesday night in protest of the recent police shooting of a Black man in Wisconsin.
Milwaukee’s boycott led to a pause in all NBA play for two days while players convened to consider abandoning the remainder of the season before ultimately deciding to resume the postseason.
Before tipoff, a moment of silence was held to honor former NBA player Clifford Robinson, long-time college basketball coach Lute Olson and Black actor Chadwick Boseman, who all passed away in the past few days.
Players and staff knelt, many with arms locked, as the national anthem played.
Milwaukee’s George Hill, who was among the catalysts for Wendesday’s boycott, could be seen on camera standing in a corridor near the locker rooms during the anthem before walking out to the court.
Orlando stayed close into the second quarter and was within six points when Marvin Williams’ 3 began a 23-12 Bucks run to end the half.
The spurt included Antetokounmpo’s left handed dribble down the lane for a driving one-handed dunk and his alley-oop dunk of Bledsoe’s lob. Middleton added two 3s, the second as he was fouled for a 4-point play that made it 67-50 at halftime.
ROCKETS 114, THUNDER 80: James Harden scored 31 points and Russell Westbrook returned to face his former team in the playoffs for the first time, helping Houston take a 3-2 lead in the first-round playoff series.
Robert Covington added 22 points and Eric Gordon had 20. The Rockets can advance to the conference semifinals with a victory Monday.
Westbrook, who had played played just one game since Aug. 4 because of a quadriceps injury, had seven points, six rebounds and seven assists in 23 minutes.
Dennis Schroder led the Thunder with 19 points despite being ejected midway through the third quarter for hitting P.J. Tucker in the groin. Tucker also was ejected after retaliating with a head-butt.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less