Bucks at Magic
THE STORY: The Milwaukee Bucks are still holding out hope that they might be able to reach the playoffs for a second consecutive season. Stringing together some wins might be a good way to keep that dream alive. The Orlando Magic are secure in their playoff future and are close to locking up the No. 4 seed and home court advantage in the first round. The Magic will be looking to take one more step toward that goal and put the Bucks out of their misery when the teams meet in Orlando on Tuesday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSWI, FSFL
ABOUT THE MAGIC (48-29): Orlando is happy to have that No. 4 seed, because right now winning on the road has become very difficult. The Magic have dropped three of four overall, with all three setbacks coming away from Orlando. Sunday’s was the most troubling, as the Magic fell to a Toronto Raptors team that had nothing to play for and was missing its leading scorer, Andrea Bargnani, due to an ankle injury. Dwight Howard did his part with 31 points and nine rebounds and Jameer Nelson scored 21 but Orlando was outscored 29-19 in the fourth quarter and outrebounded 48-30 overall.
ABOUT THE BUCKS (31-45): Milwaukee’s playoff hopes took a giant hit last Friday when they fell, 89-88, at the eight-place Indiana Pacers (35-43), a setback that dropped them four games back. A win over the Philadelphia 76ers in overtime on Saturday cut the deficit to three games. But with only six games remaining on the schedule and the Pacers holding the tiebreaker between the teams, the Bucks would still need to make up a four-game gap. Brandon Jennings missed an opportunity to win Saturday’s contest in regulation but made up for it in overtime, scoring nine of his 13 points in the extra frame to guide Milwaukee to the 93-87 win. John Salmons added 19 points for the Bucks, who talked little about the playoffs after the contest and instead focused on finishing the season strong.
WHO’S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Howard had his double-double streak come to an end at 33 games when he managed only nine rebounds on Sunday. Nelson is averaging 18.7 points in the last three for Orlando. Corey Maggette got his first start for Milwaukee since Feb. 12 on Saturday and did not impress, finishing with eight points on 2-of-6 shooting in 22 minutes.
KEY STATISTIC: The Bucks were a surprise playoff entrant last season when a mid-season trade for Salmons joined a solid core of Jennings and Andrew Bogut. This season has not been nearly as smooth, due mainly to the 266 combined games players have missed due to injury or suspension. The big one was Jennings, who missed over a month from mid-December to the end of January.
SEASON SERIES: The Bucks took the first meeting, 96-85, in Milwaukee on Dec. 4, but the Magic have won the last two. The most recent was a 93-89 overtime triumph at the Bradley Center on Mar. 16 in which Howard went off for 31 points and 22 rebounds and Hedo Turkoglu scored eight of his 19 points in the overtime. Orlando has taken five of six and eight of the last 10 in the series overall.
KEY INJURIES: MILWAUKEE: G Carlos Delfino (shoulder); F Ersan Ilyasova (concussion); F Jon Brockman (shoulder). ORLANDO: G J.J. Redick (abdominal); G Chris Duhon (thumb); G Gilbert Arenas (illness).
LAST WORD: Magic players decided last week to not shave until the end of the playoffs, with every player on the roster participating. Curmudgeonly coach Stan Van Gundy has elected not to join the group, saying “What matters is what happens out on the court.” Apparently he doesn’t “Fear the Beard.”