The Orlando Magic will look to continue to take advantage of the league’s basement dwellers when they return home for an NBA Cup East Group A meeting with the woeful Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night.
Riding its first winning streak of the season, Orlando will play a third straight one-win team on Friday following road victories over the Sacramento Kings (1-10) and Utah Jazz (1-11). The Bucks (1-11) are inching closer to the worst start in franchise history.
The Magic are coming off a split of a four-game Western Conference road trip. Still looking for the first home win under first-year head coach Sean Sweeney, Orlando has relied on the efforts of Franz Wagner and Desmond Bane since leading scorer Paolo Banchero sustained a right ankle sprain on Oct. 23.
Wagner (23.5 points per game) scored 71 points across the Magic’s last two wins.
“I think our process has been a lot better these last couple games and we need to just keep improving on that,” Wagner said. “Keeping that same energy. I thought we had a good vibe these last couple of days as a group, and everybody’s been into the game. I think we need to have that at home as well.”
Bane is averaging 18 points and has drilled a team-high 39 3-pointers for the Magic, who are one of three teams without a home win this year (Sacramento and the Chicago Bulls are also winless at home).
“I think we’re definitely improving,” Bane said. “That’s been the big thing that Coach Sweeney has talked about since he got here, is just our process and improving. I think we’re doing that. Now we’ve just got to take care of home court.”
Meanwhile, Milwaukee appears to be on a path to the draft lottery. The Bucks have lost eight straight games and rank 28th in scoring (106.8 ppg) and points allowed (121.3 ppg) as they approach the 1974-75 Milwaukee team that began the year 1-13.
Still, first-year head coach Taylor Jenkins is trying to find the positives from a brutal stretch.
“I think we’re definitely a work in progress when it comes to developing our identity and togetherness, but our guys have been engaged even through the rough moments the last couple of games, despite the results,” Jenkins said. “They’re saying the right things. We’ve got to put it into action.”
Offseason acquisition Tyler Herro has been one of the lone bright spots for the Bucks, leading his new team with 21.9 points per contest. The 26-year-old two-time Eastern Conference champion with Miami has also been tasked with guiding the team’s two first-round draft picks in rookies Brayden Burries and Nate Ament.
“This is an experience for them,” Herro said. “It’s a learning curve, seeing what really impacts winning. Also feeling what it’s like to lose in this league; obviously this is the most I’ve ever lost in my life. But to feel it, you’ll never take winning for granted again.”
