The Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Magic and moved up to the sixth seed in the awaited return of Sophomore player Malcolm Brogdon. Again, star player Giannis Antetokounmpo did not play with a sore ankle. This win was the last of the 1,204 games played in the BMOHBC. Like many of you know the Bucks will be moving to the Wisconsin ESC next year.
To begin the first quarter the Bucks brought out a good amount of energy and looked better than the Magic even though the game remained tied at times. Luckily, the problem was not making shots but defense in the paint. With 4 minutes left in the first quarter, Malcolm Brogdon returned for the first time since February 1st.
Before the game, Brogdon said, “Injured or not I’m blessed, that’s what injuries do they make you put things in perspective.”
Teammate John Henson stated “He’s one of our best players, our fourth leading scorer, it’s always good to have him back”
Shabazz Muhammad had two quick and-ones late in the first quarter and finished the quarter with nine points, most on the team. Three minutes into the second quarter the Magic had cut down the lead to two on their way to an 8-0 run. The Bucks struggled to make shots and were 0-9 to start the second quarter. By halfway, through the second quarter, the Bucks remained scoreless and were down by two until a lob layup and a driving reverse layup, both by Middleton, gave the Bucks the lead again. With less than two minutes remaining in the half cold shooting Tony Snell made a three after missing his last five shots in the game. Then Bledsoe jumped ahead of a pass and took it to the hoop to give the Bucks a five-point lead. With a last-second jumper by Khris Middleton gave the Bucks a three-point lead as Khris lead the team with 11 points. Returnee Malcolm Brogdon had amassed two points in 14 minutes, nearing his restriction for the game.
By halfway through the third quarter, the cold shooting killed the Bucks as they were down by five to a tanking Magic team. After a few defensive stops, the game was a one-point game with four minutes left to play in the quarter. With under two minutes left a Bledsoe three put the Bucks up two and Shabazz took a charge to give the Bucks another possession. On the following drive, Shabazz flew through the air for an athletic layup putting the Bucks up by four. After a nostalgic Brandon Jennings three and a full court pass that somehow made it to Shabazz, the Bucks ended the third quarter up by seven. Shabazz had 17 points at that point leading the Bucks to a 20-6 run.
In the fourth quarter, the Bucks defense was stellar and ball movement on the fastbreaks led to chances at buckets or foul shots. After missed shots and fastbreak scores the Bucks were up by 14 points. This stemmed from an and-one layup by a red-hot Shabazz Muhammad who had 22 points at that point in the game. Halfway through the fourth, the Bucks found out the Heat had lost to the Thunder which would give the Bucks the sixth seed if they ended up winning the game. With an 11 point lead at that time at that time, all the Bucks needed to do is to hang on to a lead. Unsurprisingly, the players knew this was the last game at this building and did not want to end on a loss. With that in there head they grabbed a 14 point lead and rode the momentum wave for an easy win. With an 18 point lead Bucks rookie D.J Wilson checked into the game and showed potential with a quick steal and dish to Brandon Jennings.
By: Weston Olds
