MILWAUKEE BUCKS-ORLANDO MAGIC 114-109
The Magic are still without Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, but have long dreamed of a coup away to Milwaukee. In fact, the first quarter sees Orlando on +8 and in the second the margin even reaches double figures, before Bobby Portis provides a great impact from the bench to overtake the home team: Milwaukee closes on +1 at mid-match, flies to + 8 and seems to close it in the fourth period, before a heart-pounding finale. The unleashed Jalen Suggs in fact scores the 102-101 for the guests, who give life to a point-to-point battle: Milwaukee wins it with its stars and takes advantage of the rivals’ shooting errors, to close it at 114-109 and secure the semi-finals of the NBA Cup. Here the Bucks will challenge the winner of the match between the New York Knicks and the Atlanta Hawks, in the first act of the Final Four in Las Vegas, after having enjoyed yet another show of Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Greek showed off a performance of 37 points and 7 rebounds, shooting 15/24 from the field and continuing with percentages well over 50%. Damian Lillard was also decisive in the final, with 11 points in the last two minutes and a total of 28, to which he added 9 assists: many of these were collected by Bobby Portis, third fiddle with 22 points and 10 rebounds. The new star Jalen Suggs isn’t enough for the Magic, who has another dream evening: 18 points in the fourth quarter and a total of 32 in the match to try to drag Orlando, who also finds good performances from Black (17) and Moritz Wagner (13), in addition to Bitadze’s double double (12+14). Not enough to avoid the knockout, which does not rewrite the standings in the East: Milwaukee still sixth (13-11), the losers remain third (17-10).
