Home Entertainment ‘I feel good’ – Damian Lillard reacts after Bucks continued to lose heavily Magic and drop to third place to face Pacers in the playoffs

‘I feel good’ – Damian Lillard reacts after Bucks continued to lose heavily Magic and drop to third place to face Pacers in the playoffs

Entertainment — 04/15/2024

The Milwaukee Bucks had the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference in hand for the better part of the last month of the regular season, but they finished 2-6 in April after losing 113-88 to the Orlando Magic Sunday afternoon at the KIA Center.

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The Bucks ended the year 49-33 and will be the No. 3 seed and face the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the NBA playoffs. A Knicks victory over the Bulls in overtime gave New York the No. 2 spot.

The Bucks went 1-4 against the Pacers this season, but they last played one another on Jan. 3.

“I feel good about it,” Bucks guard Damian Lillard said of facing Indiana.

“I think the one thing about the playoffs, especially this season, everybody can beat everybody. That’s really how I feel about it. Happy that we got home court and it’s a team that we familiar with.

Magic clinch playoff spot with 113-88 win over Bucks

We know they like to play fast. They score a lot of points. There’s only a few teams that score over 120, we one of ’em and they one of ’em. We just gotta know what their strengths are, which we know well, and we gotta try and take as many of those things away and make it a tougher game for ’em.”

Giannis Antetokounmpo missed his third straight game with a calf injury. Khris Middleton and Damian Lillard both played 30-plus minutes despite missing recent action. Middleton and Portis each had 17 points to lead the Bucks, but Milwaukee shot just 25.9% from three to lose in the finale.

Bucks vs. Magic (14 Apr, 2024) Live Score - ESPN (PH)

Magic beat Bucks 113-88 to finish fifth in East, will play Cavaliers in first round of playoffs - Newsday

“Indiana has had our number all year, right?,” Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said.

“So, perfect opponent. Listen, we gotta play somebody and they’re tough. They’ve played great against us, they have probably great confidence against us. We’ll have great focus, because we’re gonna have to.”

Milwaukee got some help to claim that seed, however, as Cleveland blew a 13-point fourth quarter lead in seven minutes and eventually lost by 10 to Charlotte to finish 48-34 overall. The Cavaliers’ loss locked them into the fourth seed.

Orlando (47-35) avoided the play-in tournament and earned the fifth seed with the win. Indiana, led by Oshkosh native Tyrese Haliburton, clinched the sixth seed with a win over Atlanta. Boston secured the top seed in the Eastern Conference some time ago.