ORLANDO – Giannis Antetokounmpo was visibly frustrated as he urged his Milwaukee Bucks teammates to help one another out and “stop feeling sorry for ourselves” in their loss to the Orlando Magic on Saturday night.

Paolo Banchero scored 26 points, Franz Wagner added 24 and the Magic weathered a 35-point, 10-rebound effort from Antetokounmpo to clinch a 112-97 National Basketball Association (NBA) home victory.

The result broke Milwaukee’s 14-game win streak against Orlando and also marked the Bucks’ first defeat in Orlando since March 14, 2018.

Crucially, the Magic’s 35 free-throw attempts did not go down well with Antetokounmpo.

“Sometimes you have to put your body on the line, take that hit, to make it easier for our defence. The last two games we haven’t done it,” he said, as quoted by ESPN.

“Right now, I feel like we’re just being stagnant. We’re going back on defence and not showing a lot of help. We’re not protecting one another as much as we should and sometimes when we turn the ball over, we sit and kind of complain.

“We’ve got to get out of that mentality and stop feeling sorry for ourselves.”

Orlando took the lead late in the first quarter and never looked back, building an advantage of as many as 21 points behind a balanced offensive attack.

Jalen Suggs supplied 20 points as five Orlando scorers finished in double figures, including Moritz Wagner, who had 19 points off the bench. Moritz, the brother of Franz, scored 12 points in the first half to help ignite the pivotal, second-quarter 36-24 surge that gave Orlando the lead for the rest of the game.

Jonathan Isaac chipped in 10 points off the bench and grabbed three of his five rebounds on the offensive glass – part of an overall theme for Orlando on the night.

The Magic enjoyed an emphatic 22-4 advantage in second-chance points, a by-product of their 15 offensive rebounds to just five for the Bucks.

Three of Banchero’s 12 boards were on the offensive end, and Goga Bitadze snared five of his nine rebounds on that end, as well.

Antetokounmpo carried the load for Milwaukee, who were playing a second straight game without Damian Lillard, who was out due to right calf soreness.

The Bucks were also without Jae Crowder for most of the second half, as he left in the third quarter with left groin soreness.

Beyond Antetokounmpo, Cameron Payne was the next-highest scorer for Milwaukee with 14 points. Bobby Portis had 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench, and Khris Middleton finished with 10 points and seven assists.

The Bucks shot 38 for 77 from the floor, but just nine for 29 from three-point range.

The Magic went 10 of 26 from beyond the arc and 30 of 35 at the free-throw line. Milwaukee were a dismal 12-for-25 at the foul stripe.

With Thursday’s loss against Indiana, the Bucks have now lost back-to-back games for the first time this season.

They should have little to complain about, however, as they never seriously threatened after the Magic took a 65-49 advantage into the break.

“(Whenever they cut the deficit), we just came to the huddle and I told everybody to just stay poised, stay aggressive, and just finish the game out,” Banchero said.

“That’s what we did. I definitely felt like we deserved to win that game.”

According to Magic coach Jamahl Mosley, beating the Bucks was a breakthrough for his team.

“It’s so important for our fans that they witness what our guys are doing right now, tonight,” he said.

“They played with a level of toughness, they sat down and guarded. They took on all challenges.” REUTERS