The Bucks will be looking to break out of their recent funk as they head into Orlando to face off against the 2-2 Magic. Milwaukee has gotten off to a disappointing start to their season, blowing double digit leads in losses to Miami and Boston. Their problems culminated in a 116-105 loss to Boston on Wednesday night, as they went ice cold from 3 in the second half and just folded down the stretch. Orlando is coming off a 95-83 victory over the Knicks, continuing their impressive defensive stretch to begin the season.
It will certainly be a clash of play styles when these two teams meet. Milwaukee plays at a much higher pace than Orlando and shoots more threes, while Orlando mainly runs a half-court offense through Nikola Vucevic. Orlando’s defense has been solid this season mainly through limiting possessions, while their offense has struggled to get going outside of Vucevic. Their shooting numbers have been pitiful to begin the season, including a 5/31 performance from 3 last week against Atlanta.
Expected starters:
MIL: Bledsoe, Matthews, Middleton, G. Antetokounmpo, B. Lopez
ORL: Augustin, Fournier, Gordon, Isaac, Vucevic
Injuries: Kyle Korver (rest) won’t play tonight for Milwaukee while Michael Carter-Williams (hip) and Mo Bamba (rest) will be unable to go for Orlando.
The spread: MIL -4.0
Time and TV: 6:00 PM CT on FS Wisconsin
Prediction: The Bucks have been so underwhelming recently that this game is hard to predict. This could definitely be another let-down game for Milwaukee but I think they get a close but sloppy victory. Bucks 105, Magic 102