The Milwaukee Bucks’ fourth-quarter comeback fell one shot short against the Orlando Magic, losing 111-109, after Damian Lillard’s game winning three hit the back iron. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Dame combined for 63 points to lead the Bucks offense. Yet the combined effort of Paolo Banchero (29 points), Cole Anthony (22 points and nine assists), and Franz Wanger (18 points, seven rebounds, and five assists) was enough to push Orlando over the finish line. Read our full summary of the game here and catch a six-minute audio recap on the Bucks+ podcast Bucks In Six Minutes below.

What Did We Learn?

If I’m the Milwaukee Bucks, I never want to see the Orlando Magic in a playoff series, this season or any other season. Despite being out their top guard in Jalen Suggs, the Magic continued to limit one of the Bucks’ biggest strengths on offense: the three-point shot. Of the seven games in which the Bucks have attempted their fewest three-pointers this season, four of those games (including the top three) have come against the Magic, with 23 on Saturday night.

“They just switch a lot and they’re big, the one game where we had 30 [three point attempts] was a blow out because we got good shots,” head coach Doc Rivers said. “I thought they were so much more physical tonight, I thought the first game here early in the year I thought they were way more physical than us, they were more physical in three of the four games.”

Beyond their physicality, Giannis credits the Magic’s ability to be versatile enough to switch on the perimeter to limit the Bucks’ three-point shots.

“They switch everything and when you play against a team that switches everything it’s hard,” Giannis said. “You gotta have the mindest of driving and kicking it, but sometimes we have very talented players that take that individual challenge to take it themselves and sometimes the ball doesn’t move as much and it sticks. When you play against a team that switches you gotta keep it rolling hard.”

Thankfully the Bucks are done with the Magic for the rest of the regular season, and would only play them in the second round or the Eastern Conference Finals depending on where they finish in the play-in. I know that they won three out of the four games this season against Orlando, but a team like that can be dangerous when they can shoot the ball like they did in the first quarter last night. If they get a two-way scoring guard who can hit three’s at a high rate next to Suggs, the Magic are going to be a strong contender in the East.

Three Kevin Porter Jr. Plays

If they made statues for fleecing teams out of a good player for nothing, then GM Jon Horst should get one for acquiring Kevin Porter J. for nothing. After getting limited minutes with the Clippers, Porter has taken full advantage of the opportunity as the new backup point guard behind Dame. He’s scored 10+ points in four straight games, and he’s averaging 12.0 points per game over his last four contests compared to his 9.3 points per game overall this season. He was part of the closing lineup last night against Orlando and was part of the spark the comeback in the fourth quarter. Here are KPJ’s three best plays from Saturday night.

While they could never compare to the Khris-to-Giannis lobs, the KPJ-to-Giannis ones are pretty good.

I know I’m not the only one who will miss seeing Khris Middleton throw lobs to Giannis, but in his short time here, KPJ is racking up quite the collection of outstanding lob passes to a lot of players, but Giannis in particular. With the Bucks on the comeback trail, Porter runs a P&R with Giannis and since Goga Bitdaze is in for the Magic, they’re going to run some form of drop-coverage. With Tristan Da Silva not providing much help and no one else rotating over, Porter throws a beautiful lob pass to Giannis for the slam. This was part of a big run for the Bucks to get them within striking distance and make a full comeback attempt.

His ability to stop on a dime to hit mid-range shots on one foot is something I’ve never seen before.

I know there are plenty of guys in the league who can stop on a dime and make tough shots, but the way in which Porter does it is so unconventional to me. On this play, he drives in on Anthony Black, stops with one foot and drags the other to make an awkward looking shot, but hey, it went in.

Out of everyone, he got the Bucks going from beyond-the-arc last night.

It was polar opposites from three point range between the Bucks and Magic in the first quarter. Orlando came in as the worst three point shooting team in the league, but managed to shoot a scorching 8/13 from beyond the arc in the first, while Milwaukee shot 0/5. Then in the second quarter, only one player even attempted a three for the Bucks, and it was Porter, who went 2/2. He does have history as a good three-point shooter, but the reason I say that I’m a bit surprised is because since he left Houston, he’s barely attempted any threes and hasn’t necessarily been good at them. Yet it seems now like he’s building confidence in it again, especially by taking a transition three after a stop on defense. He’s becoming more and more valuable each game, and that may price him out for the Bucks next season. But for now, let’s enjoy his exploits on the court while we still can,

Bonus Bucks Bits

• Giannis finished the night just three points shy of joining the top 50 scorers in NBA history (20,047). He did pass Antwan Jamison (20,042) last night after his 37-point outing. He’ll have his chance to quickly move into the top 50 tonight against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
• Here was Dame’s take on the last possession against Orlando:

“Every time you look back at it you’re like ‘I could’ve did this, I should’ve done this,’ once I got it in space I made up my mind I was going for the win. I got space, I just lost my balance, I got deeper than I wanted to and I was just trying to get it and go downhill and get back behind the line, but when I got back behind the line I was kinda fighting against my body more than I would have liked to, I just got off balance and that was it.”

• Taurean Prince scored nine of his 13 points tonight in the fourth quarter, tying the second most he’s scored in a single quarter this season. His three triples in the final frame also tied his season-high in a single quarter and matched the second most he’s made in a quarter in his career.
• Dame has now scored 25+ points in 31 games this season, the 10th-most in the NBA, and he’s one of just 11 players to have at least 30 games with 25+ points.

Up Next

The Milwaukee Bucks will play their second back-to-back game tonight against the Eastern Conference’s number one team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. You can catch the game starting at 7:00 p.m. (Central) on ESPN, FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin, or our Playback and YouTube channels.

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