Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane had a huge night against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, but it was not enough to carry his team to a win.
ORLANDO — The Orlando Magic had their three-game winning streak come to a halt on Wednesday night with a 116-108 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. Afterward, Desmond Bane broke down what went wrong for his team.
“I mean, give them credit,” Bane said. “Cam Thomas came in, played a hell of a game off the bench, made some tough shots, a lot of shots that, you know, we felt good about and wanted to live with. But I thought they did a good job packing the paint on their end, really making it tough for us to get to the paint.”
Despite finishing with 31 points and hitting eight of his 11 3-point attempts, Bane held himself accountable.
“Offensive rebounds —couldn't quite finish enough possessions. And then, I had a dumb foul. You know, they're in the bonus, guys getting to the free throw line; just a couple bonehead plays like that.”
With his big night on the perimeter, Bane became just the ninth player in franchise history to have multiple games with seven-plus-made 3-pointers. The first of those games came against the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 30, when he connected seven of his 10 attempts in a 32-point effort.
Bane has produced multiple high-level nights from beyond the arc during his first season in Orlando, and he credited his teammates for his ability to be successful in that aspect of his game.
“I think, having a full lineup, you know, there's so many weapons out there; so many guys that can touch the paint,” Bane said. “[It] really opens up a lot of opportunities for me to get catch-and-shoot shots. I mean, Jay Suggs, 10 assists again tonight; he's been passing the heck out of the ball.”
So, I think that as the season goes on, we're just continuing to find ways to help each other and play to each other's strengths.”
The Magic are in a better place than they were following the Feb. 5 trade deadline that kicked off their four-game home stand ahead of the All-Star break. At the time, they were 25-24 and had little room for error to stay ahead in the win column, but after winning three out of four games at home, there is more room to breathe.
Additionally, Orlando saw Franz Wagner return to the lineup after struggling with a left ankle injury that has kept him off the floor for the better part of two months. Wagner had a strong showing in his first game back (and first career game off the bench) on Monday but struggled in Wednesday’s game.
However, Bane knows it will take time to get him reacclimated.
“Yeah, I think it always takes a little bit of time, both for the player and for the team,” Bane said. I mean, just to insert an All-Star back into the lineup and have him come off the bench is something that he's never done, and we've never done this season.
So, there's going to be a learning curve, but I'm sure he's going to get his work in over the break; keep attacking the break and come back and be able to play a little bit more minutes going into the second half of the season. So, it's just good to be healthy.”