It was always going to be an uphill battle for the Orlando Magic without Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night.
Despite missing its star duo, along with key reserves Jonathan Isaac and Gary Harris, Orlando fought valiantly in its 114-109 road loss in the NBA Cup quarterfinals at Fiserv Forum.
Jalen Suggs recorded a career-high 32 points, but Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo (37 points) and Damian Lillard (28) combined for 65. Bobby Portis added 22 off the bench for the Bucks.
With the five-point win, the Bucks advance to the league's in-season tournament semifinals in Las Vegas while four days off await the Magic, who have played a road-heavy slate to start the season.
If New York wins Wednesday, Orlando will play Sunday at Atlanta. If Atlanta wins Wednesday, Orlando will play New York at Kia Center.
Spectacular Suggs
The Magic guard did much more than just score.
Often diving for loose balls and battling hard on defense, he added nine rebounds, four steals and a block in 38 minutes. He did all of it while battling a right thumb injury, too.
Suggs exited the game in the third quarter after he jammed his right shooting thumb. He returned in the frame with his right hand heavily wrapped up.
But that didn't seem to bother him too much when he notched 18 points, including 10 straight, in the fourth quarter.
Turnovers and takeaways
The Magic held true to their physical identity by putting the Bucks into tight spaces early in the game, forcing turnovers and generating offense from defense.
Orlando entered the contest second league-wide in scoring points off turnovers (20.8) and scored 20 off Milwaukee's 16.
Three straight turnovers by the Bucks to begin the second half powered a 7-0 run for the Magic. Milwaukee flipped the script to end the frame, however, closing the third quarter on an 18-4 run to lead by eight entering the fourth.
The Bucks scored 12 points off 14 turnovers by Orlando.
Long-range difference
How did the Bucks remain competitive despite their lack of ball-control?
They made up the difference from beyond the arc when the Magic failed to convert there.
The Bucks entered with the third-best 3-point accuracy in the NBA (39.4%) while Orlando entered with the worst (31.1%).
The Magic missed nine straight threes at one point in the third quarter to finish 6 of 27 shooting from distance (22.2%).
Milwaukee made five more 3-pointers (11 of 30 on 36.7%), which turned into a 15-point difference alone.
Rookie watch
Tristan da Silva earned his second straight start and 16th as a rookie.
Although he only played 16 minutes, he got to the free throw line (4 of 4), grabbed two rebounds and totaled six points.
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