Magic 107, Bucks 99: Franz Wagner's 35 hands Milwaukee a ninth straight loss
Orlando led wire to wire for its first home win of the season, and the Bucks' worst start in more than half a century rolls on.
The Orlando Magic beat the Milwaukee Bucks 107-99 on Friday night at Kia Center in NBA Cup group play, and Franz Wagner was in the middle of nearly everything. He finished with 35 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, one rebound short of his first career triple-double, according to the Associated Press. It was his fourth straight game with at least 30 points.
Orlando in front all night
The Magic led at every quarter break. Milwaukee scored only 15 points in the first quarter and shot 5 of 23 from the field in the opening 12 minutes, according to Field Level Media, and Orlando took a 23-15 lead into the second.
The Bucks found some life when Tyler Herro led a 10-0 run that cut a 16-point deficit to six, but Orlando closed the half on a 16-6 burst to lead 52-37 at the break. Wagner had 18 of his points before halftime.
Wagner and Desmond Bane hit 3-pointers early in the third quarter to stretch the lead to 20 at 65-45, Orlando's largest of the night. Milwaukee answered with a 10-0 run of its own and won the second half by seven, but never got closer than eight. The Bucks were within eight in the final minutes before Wagner came up with a steal and a Euro-step layup that made it 104-94, the AP reported.
Bane added 21 points. Goga Bitadze scored a season-high 12, half of them on alley-oop dunks set up by Wagner, and Tristan da Silva also had 12 in his return from a two-game absence with a calf injury. Wendell Carter Jr. added 12.
For Milwaukee, Jaime Jaquez Jr. led the way with 22 points and Herro had 18. Myles Turner put up 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Kyle Kuzma also scored 14.
What it means
For Orlando, it was a long-awaited first win at home. The Magic are 5-7 overall and 1-4 at Kia Center, have won three straight, and are 2-0 in NBA Cup group play. They visit Boston on Monday.
The picture in Milwaukee is bleak. The Bucks are 1-12 and 0-6 on the road, and the nine-game losing streak matches their longest since a nine-game skid in January 2014, per the AP. Citing Sportradar, the AP described it as the franchise's worst start in 52 years. Milwaukee is 0-2 in a Cup group that also includes Brooklyn, Detroit and Toronto, and hosts Atlanta on Sunday.
Friday's second half, which Milwaukee won 62-55, was the most competitive stretch of the night for the Bucks. A 15-point halftime hole against a team that had not yet won at home was too much to make up.