MILWAUKEE _ The next-to-last game of the Orlando Magic's disastrous 2017-18 season resembled the team's season as a whole.
Orlando started well, then went into a long, frustrating fade.
The Magic opened a seven-point lead over the Milwaukee Bucks midway through the third quarter on Monday, gave up an extended run and lost 102-86 at the Bradley Center.
After Orlando took its 61-54 lead, Milwaukee surged ahead by outscoring the Magic 37-24.
Bucks point guard Eric Bledsoe scored 20 points, gathered 12 rebounds and dished out 11 assists _ his fourth triple-double in 491 career regular-season games. Bledsoe made up for the absence of All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who sat out with a sore right ankle.
The Magic opened their season with an 8-4 record, going 4-2 on the road.
But a viciously difficult, road-heavy schedule and an onslaught of injuries factored into a massive decline. With Monday's loss, the Magic stand at 24-57 after losing 31 of their final 35 road games.
Because of Monday's defeat, Orlando is tied with Atlanta and Dallas for the league's third-worst record.
Buildings don't have emotions or feelings, but the Bradley Center deserved a better send-off than it received Monday night.
The arena, the Bucks' home since the 1988-89 season, hosted its final regular-season game when the playoff-bound Bucks hosted the cellar-dwelling Magic.
Neither team was at full strength.
Milwaukee was missing its best player, Antetokounmpo.
Orlando missed Evan Fournier, Jonathan Isaac, Terrence Ross and Jonathon Simmons and devoted extended playing time to rookies Jamel Artis, Khem Birch, Wes Iwundu and Rodney Purvis.
The Magic trailed 31-21 to open the second quarter, and the Magic opened the period with Shelvin Mack, Purvis, Artis, Birch and Bismack Biyombo on the floor. It seemed like the lineup would struggle to generate any offense _ as it usually does _ but the quintet scored 12 consecutive points as it held the Bucks to 0-for-12 shooting.
The first half featured 10 lead changes and seven ties.
In the third quarter, Orlando went ahead 61-54 following a 12-4 run.
Perhaps no one on the Magic roster has more experience at the Bradley Center than their coach, Frank Vogel, who spent six seasons as the head coach of one of the Bucks' division rivals, the Indiana Pacers. But Vogel's most vivid memory came from his time with the Boston Celtics in the late 1990s.
"I remember coming here as a video coordinator and rolling all that big, old video equipment into the small locker room," Vogel said. "They used to have us all stuffed in that one tiny locker room in the back. The first thing that comes to my mind is Dee Brown and Rick Pitino getting into a fight back there when I was with Boston _ not a fight, a little flare-up."
Next season the Bucks will move into a brand-new building that's being constructed next door, the Wisconsin Entertainment and Sports Center.
The 1988-89 Bucks roster featured Terry Cummings, Larry Krystkowiak, Sidney Moncrief, Ricky Pierce, Paul Pressey and Jack Sikma. Coached by Del Harris, they finished the regular season 49-33, won a first-round series over the Atlanta Hawks and suffered a second-round series sweep at the hands of the eventual NBA champion Detroit Pistons.
The 2017-18 Bucks, led by Antetokounmpo, are headed back to the playoffs.
Milwaukee fans would like nothing more than their favorite team's postseason run to be as decisive as Monday night's final 18 minutes.
Green-and-white confetti fell from the Bradley Center ceiling after the game.
Another confetti celebration _ this time in the postseason _ would be welcome here.
