Payton leads Magic past Bucks
ORLANDO -- Point guard Elfrid Payton scored 20 points and added six assists in leading the Orlando Magic to a 112-96 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks Friday night at the Amway Center.
The Magic (18-27) snapped a three-game losing streak. The Bucks (20-22) lost their fourth consecutive game.
The Magic had seven players finish in double figures when they dominated the second half and never were seriously challenged for the lead.
Reserve Jeff Green scored 18 points with seven rebounds. Aaron Gordon had 17 points with eight rebounds. Bismark Biyombo, Serge Ibaka and Nikola Vucevic each scored 13 points. D.J. Augustin had 10 points.
Jabari Parker led the Bucks with 25 points, six rebounds and six assists. Giannis Antetokounmpo, named a starter Thursday in the upcoming NBA All-Star Game, had 17 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
Rookie Malcolm Brogdon had 16 points, including four 3-pointers.
The Bucks scored the first seven points of the fourth period to cut the deficit to seven points, but that was as close as they would get. Antetokounmpo fouled out with 4:34 remaining and the Bucks trailing, 102-88.
The Magic scored the last seven points of the third quarter to take an 88-74 lead. Little-used Mario Hezonja hit a 3-point in the late rally. Brogdon hit his third 3-pointer of the game early in the period when the Bucks cut the deficit to four.
The Magic led, 59-55, at intermission. They trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half, but they led by as many as 11 points in the second.
Parker led everyone with 19 points in the first half when he hit three of his five 3-point attempts. Payton had 11 points, five assists and rebounds before intermission.
The Magic made a 14-0 run that spanned the end of the first quarter and start of the second. In that stretch, Payton hit a 3-pointer and Ibaka converted a 3-point play.
The Bucks jumped out to a 19-9 lead, but they failed to sustain their fast start.
The teams split their two meetings earlier this season with each team winning on the road.
NOTES: The mother and girlfriend of Bucks F Giannis Antetokounmpo surprised him Friday morning by arriving at his hotel in Orlando to help celebrate his first All-Star selection, which was announced Thursday night. Jamie Dinan, one of the three primary team owners, also came to town to congratulate him. Antetokounmpo became the first Milwaukee player since Sidney Moncrief in 1986 to be named a starter for the All-Star Game and the first player selected to the Eastern Conference team from Milwaukee since Michael Redd in 2004. "Hard work pays off," he said Friday. ... Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway became just the third player inducted into the Magic Hall of Fame Friday. Hardaway played just six seasons with the Magic and with Shaquille O'Neal helped lead them to the NBA Finals in 1995. ... Magic G C.J. Watson started his first game of the season Friday night because injuries have decimated the team's backcourt. Leading scorer Evan Fournier missed his fourth consecutive game with a sore right foot. Backup Jodie Meeks, who had been starting in Fournier's spot, sustained a dislocated right thumb on Wednesday and will be out for the next four weeks. G C.J. Wilcox remains sidelined by tendinitis in his ankle and knee. "We'll do it by committee now," said coach Frank Vogel.