The Orlando Magic’s season has come to an end despite a late fightback as the Milwaukee Bucks advanced to the second round of the NBA Playoffs.
The Milwaukee Bucks led by as many as 21 points early in the third quarter. The Orlando Magic’s season was drifting to a finish into an uncertain offseason.
It would have been easy for the team to pack things up. The early tip-off likely could mean the players, after nearly two months inside the NBA’s campus, could go home and see their families for dinner.
That is all tantalizing. And after the emotional week the league had gone through, nobody could blame the team for taking that easy out.
That is not this team’s make up. At the very least, the lasting image the Magic left on their season was one that showed they were fighters. Steve Clifford teams, after all, do not beat themselves and they do not lay down.
A late 24-7 run reduced the lead to just three after Evan Fournier knocked down a shot from beyond the arc. Orlando had its chance to win and extend the series with Giannis Antetokounmpo on the bench for much of the fourth quarter with five fouls.
But the Bucks came out of their timeout with tons of energy. Marvin Williams sunk two threes to get the lead back up to 11, setting Mike Budenholzer’s team on the path to a fourth straight victory in a 4-1 series win.
The Magic ran out of time and their season ended with a hard-fought 118-104 loss in Game 5.
Orlando can be proud of the fight shown in the fourth quarter and during the series as a whole. For large parts of the game, it looked like Milwaukee would breeze past a depleted Magic team as Antetokounmpo dominated in the paint.
But the Magic have always refused to give up. Even when the Bucks built up a big lead, Clifford’s team has come back fighting and this was no different.
A disappointing fourth-quarter collapse was to blame for the loss in Game 4 but for a few breathtaking minutes, it looked as though the roles could be reversed this time around.
Unfortunately, despite D.J. Augustin, Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier all connecting with 3-pointers in the fourth, Milwaukee simply had the quality to see the series out.
James Ennis‘ missed open layup with less than four minutes left in the game would have reduced the lead back to seven but instead condemned the Magic to a second straight first-round playoff exit.
The game had an odd aura to it as players returned to the court for the first time since Wednesday’s walk-out. The league needed a breath with all the serious issues going on around the league and the country.
The teams needed some time to settle into the game with a lot of sloppy play early on. Orlando kept things close, but Milwaukee was always in control. That is until the second quarter when the Bucks went on a 13-0 run after the game was tied at 31 for a 41-point quarter.
Those are the plays the Magic will likely regret. It seemed every game had a stretch like that. And now the Magic enter an uncertain offseason.
The Milwaukee Bucks win the series 4-1. The Orlando Magic’s season is over.