Giannis, Dame Wow Fans 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 Forum. It improved to 13-11 overall with a second straight win and will face the victor of Wednesday's game between the New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks in the semifinals in Las Vegas.
Antetokounmpo was unstoppable and finished with 37 points, seven rebounds, four blocks and two steals behind 15-of-24 shooting from the field, but it was Damian Lillard who took over in crunch time.
He drilled a three to tie it with 52 seconds left and then gave the Bucks the lead for good with a driving layup with 32 seconds remaining. He finished with 28 points and nine assists, while Bobby Portis also played well in a secondary role with 22 points and 10 boards off the bench.
As for the Magic, they fell to 17-10 despite an impressive effort from Jalen Suggs. With many of his teammates sidelined by injury, he scored 10 straight points for the visitors down the stretch and ended with 32 points, nine rebounds and four steals.
Yet he couldn't overcome the combined effort from Antetokounmpo and Lillard, who drew plenty of reaction from social media:
On paper, this looked to be a relatively straightforward win for the Bucks.
After all, they were home and going against a Magic squad that was missing Paolo Banchero (oblique), Franz Wagner (oblique), Gary Harris (hamstring) and Jonathan Isaac (hamstring). What's more, they entered the game at 10-3 in their last 13 following a difficult 2-8 start to the season and had no shortage of momentum.
However, Orlando was up for the challenge out of the gates and built a double-digit lead in the second quarter with Moritz Wagner and Anthony Black providing a spark off the bench. Yet the Bucks had the star power in Antetokounmpo, and he took over for extended stretches before his alley-oop dunk gave the home team a 60-59 halftime lead.
The Magic didn't have any answers for the eight-time All-Star with Isaac's rim protection missing, which was clear when he unleashed a monster dunk in the third quarter after driving through seemingly the opposition's entire roster.
It was something of a revenge dunk on Goga Bitadze after the Magic big man dunked over him earlier in the game. But it wasn't just the slams, as Antetokounmpo hit a spinning turnaround with feathery touch and swatted shots on the other end.
To Orlando's credit, it didn't go away and closed the gap during the fourth quarter when Antetokounmpo was on the bench. That set the stage for a dramatic finish, and it seemed like Suggs was going to push his team to victory with his scoring spurt.
Still, it was Dame Time in Milwaukee when it mattered most, and the Bucks advanced as a result.
