Orlando Magic squeak out a 93-89 O.T. win against the Milwaukee Bucks
The Orlando Magic fought off a spirited fight-back by the Milwaukee Bucks to grab a 93-89 overtime victory on Wednesday night at the Bradley Center. Led by Dwight Howard’s 31 points and 21 rebounds, Magic overcame a strong performance by John Salmons in
the third quarter to hold on to the win. Salmons had 16 points in the third quarter.
The Bucks didn’t shoot well in the first half, and missed on 14 consecutive shot attempts over a span of 7 ½ minutes as the Magic went on a 17 -1 run to take a 27-14 lead with 10:24 left on the clock in the second period.
Both teams traded baskets and poured in 23 points apiece in the second quarter, but Orlando held onto its lead going into the half. Earl Barron made a jump-shot with 1.5 seconds to go, making it 46-37 at the break.
The Bucks stepped it up offensively in the third quarter with a shooting barrage and collected 27 points in the third period. John Salmons’ jump-shot with 02:10 left on the clock gave the Bucks a 62-61 lead; their first of the game.
Orlando dominated on the rebounds with a 50 – 31 advantage.
The fourth quarter went back-and-forth with both teams struggling to find their scoring rhythm. On a possession that started with Carlos Delfino getting his shot blocked, the Bucks failed to capitalize on three consecutive offensive rebounds and the resultant
second-chance opportunities. They just couldn’t find a way to score.
But Orlando couldn’t seem to find the basket either, as they missed on seven free-throw attempts that could have sealed the game for them. The Magic collectively shot 20 – 35 from the free throw stripe; Dwight Howard was the main culprit as he only made
it on 13 of his 24 attempts.
Brandon Jennings meanwhile, made his share of clutch free-throws to send the game into overtime. Jennings had 23 points and eight assists.
In overtime, Milwaukee lost the services of two of its players. Larry Sanders and Jon Brockman sat out the overtime period and Milwaukee played under-manned the whole five minutes.
Hedo Turkoglu added eight points in overtime; burying some big-time shots as he helped the Magic emerge victorious against the Bucks. He finished with 19 points on the night.
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