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The Milwaukee Bucks looked more like the team with the best record in the NBA on Saturday as they rolled to a 121-107 victory over Orlando to take a 2-1 lead in their playoff series.
Giannis Antetokounmpo — in the running for a second straight NBA Most Valuable Player Award — scored 35 points and pulled down 11 rebounds as the Bucks edged ahead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference series that saw them stunned by the Magic in game one.
Antetokounmpo was a model of efficiency in 30 minutes on the court, connecting on 12 of 14 shots from the field, including two of three from three-point range.
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“It was a lot easier because we played defence,” said Antetokounmpo, who had two steals and a blocked shot. “Once we play defence, we’re able to run in transition and it makes the game easy.
“We could get early threes, we could get wide open threes, we could get driving lanes.”
Khris Middleton added 17 points for Milwaukee after he was limited to two in the Bucks’ game-two victory, and Brook Lopez chipped in 16.
The Bucks were already up 53-34 when Marvin Williams of the Bucks and Orlando’s James Ennis were ejected after a second-quarter scuffle that began when they tangled under the basket.
Bucks vs Magic getting wild!
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Ennis then shoved Williams, Williams pushed back and grabbed Ennis’s jersey before Ennis appeared to swing a fist in a bid to free himself.
The ejections were likely more costly to the already injury-depleted Magic, and the Bucks closed the half on a 25-9 scoring run.
Milwaukee led by as many as 34 in the third before the Magic trimmed the deficit to 12 with 7:22 remaining.
But after Terrence Ross drained a three to trim the margin to 104-92, the Bucks rebuilt the lead with two free throws from Antetokounmpo, a three pointer and a two-point jump shot from Lopez and a dunk from Antetokounmpo.
“We allowed them to get a lot of easy threes,” Antetokounmpo said of the Magic’s late challenge.
“We just had to keep, keep our composure on offence, keep moving the ball and making the right play.”
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