NBAOrlando Magic

Giannis, Bucks Make History Losing to Orlando Magic in Game 1

Aug 18, 2020; Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA; Orlando Magic head coach Steve Clifford with the team during a time out during the second half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks at The Field House

The Orlando Magic have pulled off the biggest upset in the postseason so far. They beat the Milwaukee Bucks 122-110 in Game 1. Orlando�s Nikola Vucevic poured in a playoff career-high 35 points while also corralling 14 rebounds. He was not the only one producing for his team as five other Magic players scored in double-figures.

Giannis Antetokounmpo tried to keep up as he put up 31 points and 17 rebounds. However, he did not get enough help from his teammates as the Magic were able to contain him down the stretch. Playing 9 minutes of the fourth quarter, Giannis only scored 1 point. During that time, the Magic were able to key in on the Greek Freak defensively and no one else on the Bucks was able to step up. Even Khris Middleton struggled as he only had 14 points, shooting 4-12 from the field, and committing 4 turnovers.

Wrong Place in the History Books

With this loss, Milwaukee has a losing streak of five games in the playoffs dating back to last season. Also, they become the fourth no. 1 seed in NBA history to lose an opening playoff game by double digits. The other three no. 1 seeds to do this are the 1999 Miami Heat, 1998 Utah Jazz, and 2007 Dallas Mavericks. Two of these three teams went on to lose their first-round series. The 1998 Jazz did ultimately win their first-round and advance all the way to the NBA Finals that year. The Bucks will obviously hope that this will be their fate.

The Bucks now own the two worst losses in the bubble. In game 1 against the Magic, they were (-13.5) favorites. In their regular-season matchup with the Nets, they were (-18.5) favorites and lost 119-116.

Milwaukee has clearly looked much different in the bubble. They will need to step up their game if they want to advance far into the playoffs and maybe even more importantly, keep Giannis.

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