Dedmon was Ready, Magic beat Bucks

Dewayne Dedmon (3) drives. (photo Reinhold Matay / USA TODAY Sports)

The Orlando Magic pulled out a 107-98 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in the Magic’s final home game of the season. Without starters Victor Oladipo, Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic the Magic needed help from the bench and tonight and Dewayne Dedmon provided it.

This season Dewayne Dedmon has not seen a lot of playing time. When asked how he keeps himself ready to play he answered, “I knew at the end of the day, an opportunity was going to come. I just had to stay ready at all times. When it happened, I was ready.” Tonight Dedmon proved he was ready.

Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) and Greg Monroe (15) watch as Orlando Magic center Dewayne Dedmon (3) drives during the second half.. (photo Reinhold Matay / USA TODAY Sports)

From the start of the game Dewayne Dedmon came to play. Against a big Milwaukee team, he made his presence known in the paint. In the first quarter he scored 12 points with a perfect 5-for-5 shooting and converted 5-of-6 at the line. Setting up a Magic lead of 32-22 at the end of the first.

Coach Scott Skiles was very impressed with Dewayne Dedmon’s performance during the first quarter saying, “He was running the floor. He was active. He got some offensive opportunities. He was converting them.”

By the end of the first half, Dewayne Dedmon scored 14 points and was 4-for-4 at the free throw line – only playing a little over 10 minutes. On the season Dedmon averages 4.2 points and sees about 12 minutes a game.

During the second half of the game, Dedmon only played 8:28 in the third and remained on the bench throughout the whole fourth quarter. He only scored three points, but was great defensively by grabbing two rebounds and two steals.

Dewayne Dedmon is known for his defensive efficiency averaging .7 blocks and 3.9 rebounds in his limited minutes. Tonight he brought his defensive presence to a whole other level with a total of eight rebounds, three steals and three blocks during his 19 minutes on the court. The big man did a great job protecting the paint, and even stayed out of foul trouble.

The big surprise tonight was Dedmon’s offense. He did a great job scoring inside the paint and drawing fouls. He had a total of 17 points and got five of those from the line. This season Dedmon struggled getting to the line only averaging 1.3 free throw attempts a game and tonight exceeded that in the first quarter alone and Dedmon proved that he can play aggressive while taking advantage of offensive opportunities. Going into the off season he is a restricted free agent and his future with the Magic is uncertain.

With only one game left on Wednesday against the 47-34 Charlotte Hornets, the Magic have the potential to end the season with a 36-46 record. This is promising for next year,  being that the past three seasons the Magic’s win records haven’t exceeded 25.