Bledsoe Leads Bucks in Last Regular Season Game at the Bradley Center

Eric Bledsoe’s first triple-double as a Buck helped boost Milwaukee past the Orlando Magic and into the sixth seed, in the final regular season game at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

The Milwaukee Bucks wrapped up the last regular season game at the BMO and took care of business without having Giannis Antetokounmpo in the lineup, with a 102 to 86 win over the Magic on Monday night. The Bucks finished with a regular season record of 668-536 in 30 seasons at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

Bledsoe led the way for Milwaukee with 20 points, 12 rebounds and a season-high 11 assists. Bledsoe said it’s not a numbers game, it’s basketball, and his confidence never left.

“I was doing the same thing in the first half as the second half, but my shots just weren’t falling,” Bledsoe said after a slow start in the first half. “I stuck with it and kept shooting the ball and just never lost confidence. I thought we did a great job of keeping our composure.”

Along with the strong performance from Bledsoe, the Buck’s bench led by Shabazz Muhammad stepped up big time, adding a game high 22 points. Muhammad had a season high in points and shot an impressive 50 percent from the field, along with eight rebounds off the bench.

Muhammad’s offensive spark off the bench, is certainly a bright spot for the Bucks and their bench heading into the playoffs.

“I think we have a lot of fire power on this team,” Muhammad said. “I think we can be a very dangerous team in the playoffs.”

Muhammad is looking to capitalize on these minutes and help the Bucks in anyway possible down the stretch heading into the playoffs.

“I think my energy is taking care of itself, and the biggest thing I’m trying to do is to get a lot of rebounds,” Muhammad said. “And being a better defender, I thought I played some really good defense out there tonight.”

Magic Head Coach Frank Vogel said you have to credit the Bucks.

“It was one of those things where the bench lineup did their job in the first half and then to start the third, our starters came in and played very well,” Vogel said. “I was proud of how we competed.”

The Bucks seemed to have no answer for Magic Center Nikola Vucevic early in the third quarter, as Orlando ran out to an earlier third quarter lead with Vucevic leading the charge with 17 points.

Vucevic finished the game with his 29^th double-double of the season and led the Magic in scoring with a team high 17 points and 10 boards.

However, the Bucks found some much needed momentum midway through the third quarter starting on the defensive end, finishing the third up 74 to 67. The Buck’s 13 steals marked the team’s NBA-high 32^nd game of the season with 10 or more steals.

“We had a bit of a rough stretch offensively to finish the third quarter,” Vucevic said. “Defensively we couldn’t get stops. The NBA is a game of runs. They made a run and we didn’t respond.”

Another positive sign for the Milwaukee Bucks heading into the playoffs was the return of Malcolm Brogdon. Brogdon’s minutes were limited in his return, as he came off the bench and played just under 14 minutes and finished with two points.

Bledsoe said the return of Brogdon helped take a lot of pressure off the guards on the defensive and offensive end of the floor.

The Bucks also had strong contributions from Jabari Parker and Khris Middleton. Parker got the start in replace of Antetokounmpo, and finished nearly with a double-double, adding 16 points and 9 rebounds.

Middleton added another consistent performance, finishing with 18 points. He said it was a good win, especially it being the last regular season game at the Bradley Center.

“We’re starting to get all our guys back out there, which is something we haven’t seen all year,” Middleton said. “Guys are playing with confidence, guys are playing great together, things are going well right now.”

The Bucks head to Philadelphia on Wednesday to take on the 76ers for their last game of the regular season before the playoffs begin.