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Magic notch fourth-quarter comeback, beat Bucks 97-90
- Updated: April 4, 2015
The Orlando Magic finally pulled out a close game on the road.
And, in the process, Tobias Harris tormented his former team, the Milwaukee Bucks.
Harris sank a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:00 to go, putting the Magic up 91-88, and the Magic held on to beat the Bucks 97-90 Saturday night at the Bradley Center.
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After Michael Carter-Williams cut the Magic’s lead to 91-90, Victor Oladipo — who had struggled most of the night — sank a 3-pointer with 1:28 left.
Harris finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
Oladipo ended with 15 points on 6-of-19 shooting.
The Magic (24-53) now have won their last two games and won for just the third time in their last 13 games.
The Bucks (38-39) are still close to clinching a playoff berth despite their loss.
For Harris, Oladipo and the Magic, Saturday’s win was extra sweet.
The game ended a streak of fourth-quarter futility outside of Central Florida.
The Magic fell behind 88-84 when Giannis Antetokounmpo converted a three-point play with 3:38 to go.
But Orlando answered.
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Aaron Gordon made a layup, and Victor Oladipo sank a jumper to tie the score 88-88.
Less than 24 hours earlier, the Magic steamrolled the injury-ravaged and lottery-bound Minnesota Timberwolves 97-84 as Nik Vucevic took advantage of the Timberwolves’ dearth of big men and scored a career-high 37 points and grabbed 17 rebounds.
But the Bucks are not the Timberwolves.
Not even close.
The Bucks have emerged as one of the NBA’s biggest surprises in their first year with Jason Kidd as their coach. Despite a season-ending injury to second overall pick Jabari Parker and having to release talented-but-troubled rim protector Larry Sanders, the Bucks entered Saturday night’s game in sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings.
Milwaukee began the weekend ranked third in the NBA in defensive efficiency.
The Bucks’ defense stymied the Magic during the teams’ second and third meetings this season. On Jan. 29 in Orlando, for example, the Magic committed 24 turnovers, which led to 34 Bucks points.
One of the Bucks’ strengths — evident with Carter-Williams, Ersan Ilyasova, Antetokounmpo and John Henson — is their height and their long arms. Those attributes help them contest shots, deflect passes and, of course, rebound the ball.
Interim Magic coach James Borrego began Saturday night concerned about the Bucks’ knack for forcing miscues.
“It’s always turnovers with them,” Borrego said before tipoff. “We’ve got to keep our turnovers down. If they’re going to score, they’ve got to score against our halfcourt defense.”
On Saturday, the Magic committed just 12 turnovers, and the Bucks converted those mistakes into 16 points.
Borrego also was worried about Milwaukee’s penchant for piling up offensive rebounds against his team, and he had good reason for his concerns.
The Bucks tallied 12 offensive rebounds, but they didn’t have a single offensive rebound in the fourth quarter.
Elfrid Payton encountered foul trouble during the first half.
He picked up his third foul with 1:02 to go in the second quarter when Ilyasova took a charge on one of Payton’s drives. Borrego subbed out Payton from the game, and the typically even-keeled rookie was issued a technical foul shortly after the end of the second quarter — most likely for arguing a non-call.
Payton finished with 10 points, 11 assists and three rebounds.
Both teams stepped up their defense in the third quarter, and the Magic trailed 73-72 entering the final period.
Harris, whom the Bucks traded to the Magic during the 2012-13 season, put Orlando ahead 78-77 by banking in a driving layup with 8:46 remaining. It was the game’s sixth lead change.
Another lead change followed a short while later.
Oladipo missed a 17-foot jumper — his 13th miss in 16 shot attempts — and the Bucks responded on their ensuing possession, with Jerryd Bayless knocking down a mid-range jumper.
Three more lead changes followed immediately, ending with a jumper by Gordon that put Orlando up 82-81 with 6:13 to go.
A few sequences later, Vucevic made a 17-foot jumper.
Orlando’s three-point lead didn’t last long.
Henson made a short shot off the glass as he was fouled by Vucevic.
In response, Borrego picked up a technical foul — the first of his career — but it didn’t hurt the Magic. Khris Middleton missed the technical free throw, and then Henson missed his and-one opportunity.
With 4:01 left, Carter-Williams hit a fadeaway, putting Milwaukee ahead 85-84.
Then 23 seconds later, Antetokounmpo converted a three-point play, giving the Bucks a four-point lead.
That set the stage for the Magic’s comeback.
