Orlando Magic Grades: Milwaukee Bucks 104, Orlando Magic 96

The Orlando Magic made a lineup change, but that did not help matters. The defense finally cracked and the Milwaukee Bucks went through that open door.

VS.

	1	2	3	4	T
Bucks	36	22	21	25	104
Magic	29	23	20	24	96

The Orlando Magic defense was bound to crack at some point. Their run of six straight games holding opponents to less than 95 points was bound to end. NBA teams are too good and defense too fragile.

For a team that had slowly become one of the better defensive teams in the league — at least statistically — there were very few scenarios where the team could not rely on its defense.

The Milwaukee Bucks tore the defense apart time and time again. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Tony Snell and Jabari Parker came around the corner again and again and found open lane and no center or guard to stop them. Michael Beasley feasted on whoever he was matched up with as the Magic could not find the right combinations — even with a new starting lineup featuring Bismack Biyombo and D.J. Augustin — to slow the Bucks down.

The only saving grace was the offense finally awakening to score 96 points — albeit on 41.3 percent shooting. That did not matter with the Bucks controlling the tempo and fending off every mini-run the Magic could throw at them.

Orlando never really threatened Milwaukee at all in a 104-96 win. The Bucks always could find the offensive spark they needed to win the game.

“It’s so frustrating that it becomes funny,” Evan Fournier said. “I don’t want to make any excuses with the change of lineups and new rotation, we still have to play defense. We’re starting to find our identity defensively. We have to get back to that.”

The Magic found a small spark offensively, especially early. But the defense was never there to back it up. Time and time again, it was not there to help Orlando get over the hump.

And finally, in the fourth quarter, the Bucks broke the game open for good. A 15-2 run put the Magic away for good, the Bucks’ length and matchup issues. It felt like Orlando was dead and buried long before then in this game.

B. Evan Fournier benefitted the most offensively from the Orlando Magic’s lineup change that moved Elfrid Payton and Nikola Vucevic to the bench. With a shooting guard next to him, Fournier found himself with a lot more room all of a sudden and the ball in his hands a lot more. Fournier produced and was more aggressive attacking and setting himself and others up.Fournier finished with 27 points and seven assists, making 11 of 21 shots. He perhaps settled for too many threes, making just 3 o fhis 10 attempts from beyond the arc, but it was hard to fault him a lot for that. He was able to spring open and hit shots. The only complaint is he may have taken those shots a bit too early in the shot clock, or he may have forced his shots in the paint too much. But he did find himself playing and scoring efficiently.Defense remains where Fournier has struggled the most. Having to play the 3 more for the first time this season, he struggled to defend Michael Beasley and some of the bigger, longer forwards the Bucks feature. He was one of the guards who struggled to handle pick and rolls and penetration from the perimeter.. G/F. Orlando Magic. EVAN FOURNIER

AARON GORDON. F. Aaron Gordon got his chance back in the starting lineup. His reviews off the bench have been mixed and this season is quickly turning into a nightmare for the still-raw young forward. Gordon has not taken the leap the Magic expected or hoped for from him, despite renewed confidence on the perimeter.Games like this, though, make the small-forward experiment look more and more like a disaster. And when he struggles to defend, it is hard to find his value out there.Gordon missed all 12 of his shots and finished without a point and with eight rebounds. He stayed mostly on the perimeter but struggled even in the post against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks’ long defenders in the paint. It was hard to find a reason to keep going to Gordon with the way this game went.This was a golden opportunity for Gordon to reclaim his role on the team, and he flubbed it.. F. Orlando Magic

Orlando Magic. NIKOLA VUCEVIC. C+. Nikola Vucevic said after the game he was not too thrilled with his move out of the starting lineup. It was certainly a demotion he did not deserve. But he was, as Frank Vogel described, a pro’s pro and did not lack for effort or production coming off the bench.He scored 17 points on 7-for-15 shooting and added 16 rebounds. He was active on both ends, particularly on the glass and the Magic were better with him in the game than Bismack Biyombo.Vucevic though looked more like the Vucevic of the past three years rather than the Vucevic of this year. He got beat up defensively on pick and rolls and on the block from Greg Monroe. Vucevic was not great moving his feet laterally or containing ball handlers. Maybe some of that falls on his guards in the end. But Vucevic struggled.. C

C+. Elfrid Payton too took his move to the bench with some stride. He was certainly plenty productive and active with his minutes. He scored 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting and looked confident moving around the paint and driving. He was probing and attacking about as well as he has. The Milwaukee Bucks made him shoot and he largely delivered.Where Payton did not deliver was in the pass — three assists — and on defense. Payton was among the guards who struggled to corral pick and roll plays and keep the Bucks out of the paint.Orlando’s defensive issues started with the team’s point guards once again. And the Magic could not recover defensively without that focused effort.. PG. Orlando Magic. ELFRID PAYTON

B+. The Milwaukee Bucks played about as good as you could expect even without some of their best players playing well. Giannis Antetokounmpo did his thing with 18 points and nine rebounds (although he had six turnovers). John Henson was big aroudn the bsket with 20 points and seven rebounds.More important, the Bucks controlled the tempo and really the entire game on the scoreboard. They built their lead early and, while never pulling away, kept the lead at about five or six points most of the way. The Magic made some runs, but never truly threatened the Bucks. Orlando’s offense was better, but never threatening to make a big run.Eventually the Bucks just overwhelmed the Magic with a late 15-2 run, relentlessly attacking a reeling defense, putting the game away.. 7-8. 9th East. MILWAUKEE BUCKS