(Field Level Media) Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo notched a double-double and the Bucks used a big first half to breeze past the Magic 123-91 in Orlando on Friday night.
The Bucks took full control of their first meeting with the Magic this season by outscoring the hosts 31-14 in the second quarter en route to a 62-41 halftime lead.
Antetokounmpo tallied 29 points, 14 rebounds and six assists for Milwaukee, which bounced back after Wednesday’s 116-105 loss in Boston.
Eric Bledsoe scored 18 points and Khris Middleton had 16.
Reserves Donte DiVincenzo (14 points), Ersan Ilyasova (10) and Sterling Brown (nine points, 11 boards) contributed for the Bucks, who were 17 of 47 on 3-pointers (36.2 percent).
Milwaukee outscored Orlando 36-2 on fast breaks.
Evan Fournier recorded 19 points and Nikola Vucevic had 14 for the Magic, who have lost three of four and are 1-1 on their three-game homestand.
Orlando finished just 34 of 91 from the field (37.4 percent).
The loss was the Magic’s first in their last 12 games in the Amway Center.
Milwaukee shooting specialist Kyle Korver (rest) did not play, nor did Orlando center Mohamed Bamba, who was held out of the first game of back-to-back games as a precautionary measure because of the broken left tibia he sustained last season.
In a matchup of the fourth-best scoring offense in the NBA in Milwaukee against Orlando’s stingy defense, the Magic started quickly and sprung out to an early 13-point lead at 20-7 less than five minutes into the contest.
But the Magic cooled off while their Eastern Conference foe heated up, and Ilyasova’s 26-footer with 2:07 left in the first gave the Bucks a four-point lead at 28-24.
Milwaukee held a 31-27 lead at the end of the first quarter behind 8-for-16 3-point shooting and eight points from Bledsoe.
The Bucks, who entered the contest averaging more than 119 points per game, continued the hot streak in the second quarter by building a 23-point lead at 60-37 with 2:49 remaining.
Orlando had trouble defending the 3-point shot over the first 24 minutes, allowing Milwaukee to connect on 11 of 25 attempts (44 percent), and the Bucks owned a 17-0 advantage in fast-break points at the half.
Last in the league in field-goal shooting, the Magic continued to struggle despite a 13-point first half from Fournier. Ten of those points came in the first quarter.
Orlando trimmed the deficit to 88-71 heading into the fourth quarter, but Antetokounmpo led a fourth-quarter push as the Bucks improved to 3-2 this season.
Milwaukee plays at home Saturday against Toronto. Orlando finishes its stretch of three home games in four nights with a Saturday evening tilt against the Denver Nuggets.
