Magic Dominate Bucks

Nov 27, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic point guard Elfrid Payton (4) makes a jump shot over Milwaukee Bucks power forward Johnny O’Bryant III (photo Jeff Griffith / USA TODAY Sports)

ORLANDO, Fla – The Orlando Magic (8-8) shot the lights out of the Amway Center on Friday night, beating the Milwaukee Bucks (6-10) by a score of 114-90 in their first 20 point win since November of last year. Magic point guard Elfrid Payton had an efficient double-double, netting 22 points on 10-of-12 from the floor along with 10 assists.

After the first quarter ended in a tie at 22, the Magic never looked back. They took a six-point halftime lead before reeling off the highest scoring quarter of the season. In the third quarter, which has often been Orlando’s Achilles’ heel this season, they scored 37 points to push their lead to 21.

The fourth quarter was purely academic, as the Magic increased their lead to as much as 29 before putting in the subs. This was the biggest Magic win since January of 2012, and only the 3rd 20 point win since the Van Gundy/Howard era in Orlando.

This win restarts the timer on a few old records, as Orlando clinched their first winning month since March of 2012 when the buzzer sounded. Coach Scott Skiles was grounded with his outlook, saying, “If you have a winning month, then another winning month…if you have six winning months you’re six games over .500 and you’re in the playoffs.”

The Magic rained down threes early and often, making 12 of their 27 attempts for 44% from deep. Five Magic players hit at least one three, including a 4-of-5 mark for small forward Tobias Harris, and 3-of-5 for newly-crowned starting power forward Channing Frye. Harris finished with an unusual stat line, scoring 19 with only two rebounds and a plus/minus of 20.

“It was beautiful,” said Harris on the flow of the offense.

After shooting .364 from beyond the arc last year, the 5th year man out of Tennessee has slumped to .316 in the early part of this season. Skiles said he trusted in Harris’s work habits, claiming that, “By the time the season is over he’ll be in the upper 30’s, somewhere like that, I’m pretty confident of that.”

Shooting guard Victor Oladipo had his second straight big game from the bench, flirting with a triple-double midway through the fourth quarter. He would finish with 17 points, nine assists, and six rebounds.

Despite hitting only one three-pointer, the Magic’s MVP of the night was Elfrid Payton. Payton had no trouble finding the open man, finishing one assist shy of his career high of 11. He and Victor Oladipo seemed to flow off of each other, finishing off each other’s fast breaks with ease. Payton was instrumental in directing the offense to both take and keep the lead.

On the defensive end, Orlando held Milwaukee to 38% shooting through three quarters and forced 22 turnovers by the end of the game. The interior defense forced the normally efficient (51% shooting) Greg Monroe to 3-of-12 on the night. This inefficiency led Monroe to play just 19 minutes, despite grabbing eight boards.

The Magic have won two straight during their current three-game home stand. The final game will come against Boston on Sunday a 6 P.M. Orlando will try to get above .500 on Sunday before going on a 10 day, five game road trip to start the month of December.

 Flagrant Fouls: None
 Technical Fouls: PLAYERS: None – TEAMS: MILWAUKEE (1) – COACHES: None
 Officials: Haywoode Workman, David Jones, Marc Davis
 Attendance: 16,317
 Time of Game: 2:06