Orlando Magic shock the Bucks with dominant Game 1 upset

The Orlando Magic were playing with Aaron Gordon and Jonathan Isaac but somehow they still blow out the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 1.

No one was giving the Magic much of a chance in this series, but they came out energized and well-prepared, blitzing the Bucks in the first quarter and building a 10-point lead. Nikola Vucevic was dominant in the first half, draining pick-and-pop jumpers and finishing in the paint. He never really slowed down and had 30 by the time the fourth quarter began, with Orlando holding a 13-point lead.

The Bucks drifted listlessly, through the first three quarters. Giannis put up 28 but the rest of the team was just 6-of-24 on 3-pointers. They closed the margin to just one in the second half, but Orlando blew it open again and answered every challenge. Vucevic was the star, but the Magic also got strong performances from Markelle Fultz, D.J. Augustin and Terrence Ross off the bench.

What else did you miss in Game 1 between the Bucks and Magic?

MVP: Nikola Vucevic and his offensive brilliance

Vucevic was fantastic, finishing with 35 points, 13 rebounds and 3 assists, on 15-of-24 from the field and 5-of-8 on 3-pointers. The Bucks general lack of energy on defense gave him plenty of room in the pick-and-roll and he repeatedly walked into open pockets of space for uncontested jumpers both in and outside the arc. But Vucevic was a beast on the inside as well, finishing in traffic and scoring in static post-ups when Orlando needed to slow things down. His consistent scoring was the counter-punch for nearly every Milwaukee run.

Strategic advantage: Orlando’s transition defense

Hot-shooting from the Magic gave their offense a boost but it also kept the Bucks from running. Milwaukee averaged 18.0 fastbreak points per game in the regular season but managed just 3 in the first half and 10 for the entire game. Protecting the ball and getting back in transition forced Milwaukee to work more in the halfcourt, a problem they didn’t seem to have much enthusiasm or creativity to attack with.

Giannis ended up seven 3-pointers, a sign of how often he was handling the ball in isolations with no halfcourt movement on the part of Milwaukee. With Vucevic or James Ennis dropping, he was encouraged to pull up for semi-contested jumpers. The Bucks have to figure out a way to get more movement into their offense, both in transition and in the halfcourt.

Meme-able moment: Giannis Antetokounmpo and Markelle Fultz trade pull-up 3s

Mid-way through the second quarter, Markelle Fultz calmly dribbled around a slow-motion drag screen and pulled up to drain a 3-pointer. Prior to that, he’d made a grand total of 10 pull-up 3s all season long (on 42 attempts). On the next possession, Giannis, who shot 28.9 percent on pull-ups 3s this season, calmly dribbled into one from the wing.

Excepting maybe Ben Simmons, no two players have had their outside shots as dissected as Fultz and Giannis. Watching them go back-to-back off the dribble was just another reminder that reality, as we know it, is becoming increasingly malleable.