Photo via Twitter / @NBA
Even if the Milwaukee Bucks won Game Five of their series with the Orlando Magic by 100 points on Saturday afternoon, it would still only be their second biggest accomplishment of the week. After originally protesting the game on Wednesday, which subsequently shut down the NBA playoffs, and created a ripple effect throughout the world of sports, play resumed on Saturday, with considerably more eyes on the Bucks in the bubble. With the attention still focused largely off the court, what Milwaukee did on it proved that they were worthy of making statements in whatever they do.
It wasn’t much of a surprise when both teams came out of the gate flat on Saturday. On top of all of the outside factors affecting play, these were still two teams coming off of a very busy four-day break in their routines. The first few minutes of the game featured both teams shaking the rust off, with Milwaukee able to do so just a bit quicker than Orlando. The Bucks were able to hold Nikola Vucevic to only 22 points, going just 3-10 from three-point range on the afternoon and 9-25 from the field overall. With the exception of a tie game in the second quarter, the Bucks held a lead for the majority of the game. The closest Orlando came to a lead change afterwards was a three-point deficit with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, before falling to the Bucks, 118-104.
In terms of offensive production, Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way, as he does most games, with 28 points. He was just three rebounds shy of another game with over 20 points and 20 boards, a feat that he has only done once, in Game Two of this series. Khris Middleton appeared to have benefited from the extra time without a game, coming back to life with 21 points and posting a double-double as well. The bench was led by 12 points from Marvin Williams, all coming from behind the arc, with four three-pointers from the right side of the basket. George Hill, whose comments on Tuesday sparked the initiative for the protest this week, chimed in 11 points.
Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.
It’s a quick turnaround for the Bucks now, as they face a Miami Heat team that is going to be significantly more competitive than the Magic proved. Game One of that series begins on Monday at 5:30 p.m., with coverage on TNT and Fox Sports Wisconsin.
