Magic Bounced from NBA Cup as Valiant Fight Falls Short in Loss to Bucks

The shorthanded Orlando Magic gave the Milwaukee Bucks everything they could on Tuesday night. But with a 114-109 loss, the Magic's NBA Cup run concluded in Milwaukee.

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) dunks the ball in the first quarter against the Orlando Magic at Fiserv Forum. | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

The Orlando Magic, minus their two best players, are shorthanded by definition in most matchups for the immediate future.

But for a team that emphasizes a by-committee approach and leads with its take-no-prisoner defensive approach – a bar requirement that all five players on the floor must meet – they're up for a challenge with anybody.

In Tuesday night's NBA Cup quarterfinal matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks, the Magic were overmatched on paper. But only so.

With a national audience tuned in on TNT, however, Orlando morphed into a prizefighter. And they gave the Bucks one hell of a bout.

What started as an efficient scoring output for both sides swiftly became a grinder as the game tightened. For Orlando's bottom-third offense, their formula is unapologetic – if they can't score, neither will their opponent. In so many of those situations this year, the Magic have emerged victorious.

That wasn't to be Tuesday, though. The Bucks defeated the Magic 114-109, dropping them to 17-10 this year and ending their bid for the NBA Cup.

"I want – we want them to understand what [the Magic] just did, just from an effort category, going toe-to-toe with two Hall of Famers and a very experienced basketball team," Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. "Now we won't make excuses for bodies, having bodies or not having bodies, but you go toe-to-toe with a team like that, realizing how hard it is to overcome our own mental lapses. I think in these moments, this is where possessions matter, the mental focus matters in these games.

"But I can't be more proud of their effort, their energy, their sticking together throughout the runs within the game that shows continued growth for this team and understanding how good we can continue to be."

Milwaukee advanced to its second straight NBA Cup semifinal while Orlando's run toward the Cup concluded in the Fiserv Forum.

With regard to their next opponent, each team will await the result of tomorrow's other East quarterfinal between Atlanta and New York. The winner will draw the Bucks, the loser gets the Magic.

Torn obliques have the Magic's two stars – Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner – sidelined indefinitely. But they also missed two other key rotational cogs – Jonathan Isaac and Gary Harris – each to hamstring issues. Jalen Suggs left the game momentarily in the third quarter with a right thumb injury. Goga Bitadze was laboring on a hurt ankle and lower leg for a majority of the night.

Yet still, Orlando trudged through and went toe-to-toe with a Milwaukee team that entered the winners in eight of their last 10 games on its home floor.

A career-high 32 points for Jalen Suggs included 18 coming in the game's final 12 minutes. He added nine rebounds and four steals aside from the result.

"Silver lining, we took a championship-level team [with] two of the best players in basketball, two top-75 players [with] great role players around them [and a] great, legendary coach on the sideline... to the brink," Suggs said. "A game we should've had, in my opinion."

“We fought. We played hard, withstood runs, withstood adversity. For that, I'm proud of every man up and down the roster. Everybody did everything tonight to give ourselves a chance to win.  Yeah, I don't know. [It] hurts knowing that I had that opportunity, knowing that everybody did everything that they could. They fought through injuries, through hurt, through fatigue. All we needed was one [bucket]. So yeah, it was great; great night in terms of all that, but back to the lab. That's two end-of-games for me that I've not felt super great about walking off the court, so. Time to get back, get better [and] get ready for our next one."

Four others reached double-figures – Anthony Black (17), Moe Wagner (13), Goga Bitadze (12, 14 rebounds) and Jett Howard (10) – and nine of the 10 Magic players to see the floor scored. The Magic forced 16 turnovers, including 11 steals, and did their best to limit the three-point disparity.

But Milwaukee's All-NBA duo of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard proved to be too much over the stretch run. Antetokounmpo scored a game-high 37 points on 15-of-24 shooting, and Lillard notched 28 points on 8-of-15 attempts.

Bobby Portis' 22 points helped, but when Milwaukee needed buckets, it was one of Antetokounmpo or Lillard coming through. In the game's middle portion, they combined to score 28 straight points. Then, in the game's closing stretch, they combined for Milwaukee's final 16 points of the night to close out the Magic.

Up Next

The Magic await the result of Wednesday's other East quarterfinal between the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks. If New York wins, the Magic will play at Atlanta inside State Farm Arena on Sunday, Dec. 15 at 5 p.m. ET. If Atlanta wins, Orlando will play Sunday, Dec. 15 vs. New York at 6 p.m. ET in the Kia Center.

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