With the Milwaukee Bucks in danger of a quarterfinal loss in the NBA Cup, their All-Star guard declared the final two minutes were Dame Time.
Lillard had 11 points in the final 2:01 of Milwaukee’s 114-109 win over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night. He hit six free throws, made a go-ahead dunk with 32 seconds to go and hit a game-tying three-pointer when Orlando was threatening to pull away late.
The Bucks improved their NBA Cup record to 5-0 and advanced to face the winner of Wednesday’s game between the New York Knicks and the Atlanta Hawks. Last year, they also advanced to the semifinals, but fell to the Indiana Pacers in Las Vegas.
The shorthanded Orlando Magic battled hard and stayed in the game with offensive rebounds, grabbing 15 offensive boards and outrebounding the Bucks overall, 46-37. They took a late three-point lead after Wendell Carter grabbed a Jalen Suggs miss, got fouled and sank both free throws.
But in the final minute, the rebounding dominance didn’t matter, because Lillard didn’t miss. He was 2-for-2 from the field and 6-for-6 from the foul line. The Magic, playing without Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, simply couldn’t hang with the Bucks, especially shooting 6-for-27 from three-point range.
Milwaukee traded for Lillard and hired Doc Rivers to coach in order to win a title. Even at 13-12, they’re still alive for an NBA Cup title at least.
