The Milwaukee Bucks were missing three of their top five scorers for their game against the Orlando Magic on March 8 at Fiserv Forum and it looked every bit like it in a 130-91 loss.
The Bucks scored just 15 points in the first quarter and it didn’t get much better from there while the regulars were in the game.
Milwaukee (27-36) missed its first eight 3-point attempts and shot just 30% overall from the field in falling behind 25-15 early and the Bucks simply didn’t have enough firepower to stick with the Magic. Orlando (35-28) won its fourth in a row.
It was the lowest scoring first quarter of the season for the Bucks, who have not scored 100 points in five of their last nine games.
BOX SCORE: Magic 130, Bucks 91
The Bucks started slowly again in the third quarter, too, beginning the second half 1-for-8 from the field with four turnovers in the first five minutes. They found themselves down 25 at that point. Milwaukee would score only 15 points in the third quarter, tied for the lowest scoring third quarter of its season.
Heading into the game the Bucks were concerned about defending the Magic without fouling, an they were right to as the Magic went 26-for-36 from charity stripe on 23 Bucks fouls.
Milwaukee also turned the ball over 15 times, leading to 21 Orlando points when the regulars were in the game.
Bobby Portis Jr. led the Bucks with 18 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, giving him 87 career double-doubles off the bench. That broke a tie with Roy Tarpley for second-most double-doubles by a reserve in NBA history.
Ryan Rollins had 15 points on 5 of 12 shooting while Jericho Sims added 10 points and seven rebounds. Cam Thomas had 17 points on 7 of 12 shooting, along with six assists, off the bench.
Orlando, which is coached by Milwaukee native Jamahl Mosley, was led by Paolo Banchero (33 points in 29 minutes), Jalen Suggs (20 points) and Desmond Bane (15 points).
During the decisive first half the Bucks had no answers for Banchero who scored 25 points on 10 of 12 shooting from the floor.
Bucks’ Pete Nance knows roster decision looms
An hour on March 8 was lost thanks to daylight savings time pushing the clocks forward, which may have been an unfortunate reminder for Bucks forward Pete Nance that his time with the Bucks may be running out.
The 26-year-old forward was signed to a two-way contract to begin the season, which meant he could split time between the Bucks and their G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd. That type of deal also caps a player’s total NBA games at 50 (regardless of whether he plays or not). And sitting in front of his locker before taking on the Magic, Nance knew that he now just has eight games left.
“Just trying to focus on the court, you know what I mean? It doesn’t change anything for me whether I would get converted or not,” he told the Journal Sentinel. “It’s not like I’d play any harder or any faster or shoot more or do anything different. Just trying to stay focused and stay rooted in who I am and what I do every day. And, wherever that takes me, then I’ll be happy with it.”
Originally undrafted out of the University of North Carolina in 2023, Nance had signed two-way deals with Cleveland (2024) and Philadelphia (2025) but had never gotten the amount of game play he has this season in Milwaukee.
Bucks head coach Doc Rivers has consistently praised Nance’s ability to “connect” offensive and defensive schemes on the court, and the 6-foot, 9-inch forward has impressed by shooting 49% from behind the 3-point line in averaging 4.6 points and 2.0 rebounds per game heading into the game against Orlando.
He then was the team’s sixth man against the Magic.
Nance had also been a “plus” player all season, the Bucks have outscored their opponents by 50 points.
“I think definitely before, I don’t think people knew who I was or knew what I did at all,” he said. “But now I think I’ve got a little bit of film and obviously some stats for them to look at. It looks like people are closing out to me a bit little harder, definitely checking back-and-forth for me to see if I’m cutting, stuff like that. But I think just trying to move around these guys is something that doesn’t change game-to-game for me.”
In order for the Bucks to keep Nance available beyond this contract, they will have to waive one of their 15 guaranteed contracts and convert Nance to a “standard” deal for the rest of the season. Doing that would also make Nance eligible to play in any postseason contests, should the Bucks get to that point.
But for now, despite knowing his time is running out, he’s keeping a smile on his face and a positive outlook.
“No matter what it is as long as I’m getting to play and getting the opportunity on the floor, it doesn’t change anything,” he said. “Just keep doing what I’m doing and playing hard. That’s really it. It could be easy to get really caught up in that and hoping that happens. But at the end of the day, whatever happens there is gonna happen, so I ‘m just trying to take care of anything that’s in my control.”
Bucks start another new group
A night after the Bucks went “big” against Utah in trying to fortify one of the league’s worst defenses, Doc Rivers had to adjust that group because Giannis Antetokounmpo was held out of playing back-to-back nights and Kyle Kuzma was ruled out with a bruise on his spine.
So, AJ Green returned to the starting lineup and Jericho Sims was bumped up to join Ryan Rollins, Myles Turner and Ousmane Dieng.
It was the Bucks’ 24th starting unit of the season and the fifth different starting group in five games.
Did you notice?
Bucks guard Cam Thomas dribbled from the top of the key to the very deepest part of the corner in front of the Orlando bench with 4:38 to go in the third quarter. He barely stayed in bounds as he heaved a fallaway shot that missed everything for a 24-second violation. What made the play even odder was Thomas dribbled right past teammate Gary Trent Jr. who was on the wing behind the 3-point line.
He said it
Before the game against the Magic, Doc Rivers was asked what Myles Turner had to do to play more after the center logged just 18 minutes and did not play the entire fourth quarter in a win over Utah on March 7. The Bucks were plus-10 when he was on the court.
Rivers: “Well, we won the game (vs. Utah). That’s my answer. I mean, I don’t really care honestly. I think Myles has been really good. I think he would love to score more and things like that. I’m not that concerned with it. But last night I was focused on whatever group. Sometimes you can be playing well, and you can even be a plus-10, but the group that’s playing on the floor at that point may be playing better and you stay with ‘em. You don’t just look at numbers and say hey, he’s a plus-10, let’s put him in. That’s just not how it works. It makes no sense.”
Turner played 23 minutes vs. the Magic, going 1-for-6 from the floor and scoring three points. He had no rebounds and a blocked shot.
5 numbers
2.9: Percent chance the Bucks could make the play-in tournament heading into the game, per ESPN analytics.
13.9: Percent chance the Bucks could win a top-four pick in the NBA draft lottery heading into the game, per the lottery-tracking web site www.tankathon.com.
6-13: Free throw shooting by the Bucks. That followed a 16-for-28 (57%) performance from the charity stripe on March 7 vs. Utah. The Bucks came into the game as the worst free throw shooting team in the league at 73.6%.
6-5: Bucks record on the second night of back-to-back games.
15-17: Bucks record at home.
Is Giannis playing?
No.
The Bucks star is missing his first game since returning from a nearly six-week absence because he played 27 minutes against Utah on March 7. It was always unlikely that Antetokounmpo would play back-to-back games.
What is the Bucks record without Giannis?
11-19
The Bucks are just 16-17 when Antetokounmpo plays.
Milwaukee Bucks injury report
Bucks starters
NBA playoff standings before the game
The Bucks are out of the postseason picture entirely. Here are the play-in standings in the Eastern Conference heading into game play on March 8:
No. 7: Miami (35-29): The Bucks and Magic have split the season series 1-1. Milwaukee travels to Miami on March 12.
No. 8: Philadelphia (34-29): The 76ers have won the season series over the Bucks, winning the first three games. The Bucks head to Philadelphia to end the season on April 12.
No. 9: Atlanta (33-31): The Bucks and Hawks have split the season series 1-1. Milwaukee travels to Atlanta on March 14.
No. 10: Charlotte (32-32): The Bucks own the tiebreaker over the Hornets having won the season series 3-1.
No. 11: Milwaukee (27-35): The Bucks have had better luck against the play-in teams to date, as they are just 5-14 against the top six seeds in the conference.
“I think you can look at (the standings) and just see what it is but you gotta then come back to the now,” Bucks guard AJ Green said at shootaround on March 7. “We have a game today. How can we get better today? What do we need to work on. We gotta win today. Just keep controlling what we can and worry about ourselves.”
What time is the Bucks game?
The game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. CT.
What channel is the Bucks game on?
The game will be broadcast locally on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin with Lisa Byington, Wesley Matthews and Melanie Ricks on the call.
Bucks vs. Magic odds
Orlando is a 3.5-point favorite over Milwaukee, with the over/under set at 218.5 points per BetMGM.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Magic beat Bucks 130-91 as offense never finds footing
Reporting by Jim Owczarski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
