Giannis, Dame Wow Followers as Doc Rivers’ Bucks Beat Magic, Advance to NBA Cup Semifinals

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks are two wins away from the 2024 NBA Cup.

Milwaukee defeated the Orlando Magic 114-109 in Tuesday’s dramatic NBA Cup quarterfinals matchup at Fiserv Discussion board. It improved to 13-11 total with a second straight win and can face the victor of Wednesday’s sport between the New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks within the semifinals in Las Vegas.

Antetokounmpo was unstoppable and completed with 37 factors, seven rebounds, 4 blocks and two steals behind 15-of-24 taking pictures from the sector, but it surely was Damian Lillard who took over in crunch time.

He drilled a 3 to tie it with 52 seconds left after which gave the Bucks the lead for good with a driving layup with 32 seconds remaining. He completed with 28 factors and 9 assists, whereas Bobby Portis additionally performed nicely in a secondary position with 22 factors and 10 boards off the bench.

As for the Magic, they fell to 17-10 regardless of a formidable effort from Jalen Suggs. With lots of his teammates sidelined by damage, he scored 10 straight factors for the guests down the stretch and ended with 32 factors, 9 rebounds and 4 steals.

But he could not overcome the mixed effort from Antetokounmpo and Lillard, who drew loads of response from social media:

On paper, this a comparatively easy win for the Bucks.

In any case, they had been dwelling and going in opposition to a Magic squad that was lacking Paolo Banchero (indirect), Franz Wagner (indirect), Gary Harris (hamstring) and Jonathan Isaac (hamstring). What’s extra, they entered the sport at 10-3 of their final 13 following a tough 2-8 begin to the season and had no scarcity of momentum.

Nonetheless, Orlando was up for the problem out of the gates and constructed a double-digit lead within the second quarter with Moritz Wagner and Anthony Black offering a activate the bench. But the Bucks had the star energy in Antetokounmpo, and he took over for prolonged stretches earlier than his alley-oop dunk gave the house crew a 60-59 halftime lead.

The Magic did not have any solutions for the eight-time All-Star with Isaac’s rim safety lacking, which was clear when he unleashed a monster dunk within the third quarter after driving via seemingly the opposition’s complete roster.

It was one thing of a revenge dunk on Goga Bitadze after the Magic huge man dunked over him earlier within the sport. However it wasn’t simply the slams, as Antetokounmpo hit a spinning turnaround with feathery contact and swatted photographs on the opposite finish.

To Orlando’s credit score, it did not go away and closed the hole in the course of the fourth quarter when Antetokounmpo was on the bench. That set the stage for a dramatic end, and it appeared like Suggs was going to push his crew to victory together with his scoring spurt.

Nonetheless, it was Dame Time in Milwaukee when it mattered most, and the Bucks superior consequently.