Orlando Magic vs. Milwaukee Bucks NBA Game 2 Pick

Teams/Spread	Moneyline Odds	Total
Magic +13 (-110)	+660	Over 227 (-105)
Bucks -13 (-110)	-1000	Under 227 (-115)

On Tuesday, the Orlando Magic shocked the world with a pretty easy win over the heavily-favored Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks have bee minus-money favorites to win the Eastern Conference for weeks. They were also minus-money favorites to sweep the Magic in this series, but those bet slips went out the window after just one game.

As you can see, oddsmakers seem to think that the Bucks’ 122-110 defeat in Game 1 was the kick in the pants they needed. Milwaukee is a massive 13-point favorite over Orlando in Thursday’s Game 2. The Bucks haven’t looked nearly as dominant since the restart as they did during the regular season, but NBA betting sites aren’t ready to throw in the towel just yet.

Will Aaron Gordon Return?

Aaron Gordon missed Game 1 for the Magic due to a hamstring injury. Head coach Steve Clifford said before Tuesday’s game that he would expect Gordon to be able to return for Game 2, but he is officially listed as questionable on the team’s injury report.

With Gordon on the sidelines on Tuesday, Clifford started Gary Clark next to James Ennis at the forward spots with Nikola Vucevic occupying his normal spot in the middle. Clark and Ennis were key parts of Orlando’s success on Tuesday, combining to shoot 6-for-15 from 3-point range with a total of 26 points and 14 rebounds. Even if Gordon returns today, the Magic may still have to rely on Ennis and Clark to give them good minutes with Jonathan Isaac done for the year.

The Magic shot 16-for-41 (39 percent) from long distance in Game 1, which is impressive when you consider Evan Fournier wasn’t a factor. Fournier, who is right there with Vucevic as the team’s usage leader, took just 8 shots and finished with 9 points in 36 minutes. Orlando got a monster game from Vucevic, who put up 35 points with 14 rebound on blistering 15-for-24 shooting.

Milwaukee has been the NBA’s best defensive team this season, so I wouldn’t be at all shocked if they made a point of trying to clamp down on Orlando’s top offensive option in Game 2.

What’s With the Bucks?

Tuesday’s loss dropped the Bucks to just 3-6 through 9 games in the bubble. While most of those games were of no importance to Milwaukee, their recent form is still quite disconcerting.

Aside from the usual greatness of Giannis Antetokounmpo, none of the Bucks really showed up in Game 1. Brook Lopez finished with just 5 points and 4 boards in 30 minutes. Khris Middleton was held to 14 points on 4-for-12 shooting. Eric Bledsoe played well, but he logged just 28 minutes as Mike Budenholzer ran a strange rotation.

Budenholzer kept a few of his key players on the bench as the game entered crunch time, which was questionable to say the least. Bud has pulled all the right strings since taking the Bucks’ job prior to last season, which makes his decisions in Game 1 quite the head-scratchers. Milwaukee will need better performances out of their complementary pieces if they plan to restore order in this series.

Orlando Magic vs. Milwaukee Bucks NBA Pick

Obviously, oddsmakers think Game 1 was a blip on the radar considering Milwaukee has been installed as a 13-point favorite in this one. The Magic have been a quality defensive outfit under Clifford, and they simply played harder and with more urgency than the Bucks did in the first game.

Now that they’re in an 0-1 hole, though, it would be a surprise if the Bucks didn’t come out with more intensity on Thursday. This is the Bucks’ best chance to win a championship, and I doubt Giannis Antetokounmpo lets the opportunity slip away against an undermanned Magic team.

A complete blowout is entirely possible here if the Bucks can do a better job of containing Vucevic, who is really the Magic’s only offensive threat. That said, 13 points is a pretty huge spread by NBA standards, let alone NBA playoff standards. Orlando has almost no shot at actually winning this game, but the lack of home-court advantage is going to result in more closely-contested games than we would otherwise see in these first-round postseason series.

I think the Magic can at least cover 13 points. It may feel like a trap, but Orlando is a disciplined enough team to keep the margin respectable here. Take the Magic to cover.