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USATSI

The first-round series between the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks and the eighth-seeded Orlando Magic will get underway on Tuesday afternoon. Thanks largely to the play of reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks secured the top seed in the East for a second straight season, and this year they will look to advance farther than they did last year when they were knocked out in the Eastern Conference finals by the Toronto Raptors. Their quest to do so begins against the Magic on Tuesday.  Orlando, on the other hand, will be looking to pull a major upset over the Bucks and in turn avoid a second straight first-round elimination. For what it's worth, the Bucks won all four of the regular season meetings between the two teams this season. 

Here's everything you need to know about Game 1 between the Bucks and Magic. 

How to Watch Game 1

  • Date: Tuesday, Aug. 18 | 1:30 p.m. ET
  • Location: Disney Wide World of Sports -- Orlando, Florida
  • TV: TNT
  • Odds: Bucks -12.5 | Over/Under: 225

Storylines

Bucks: The stakes are high for the Bucks in Orlando. After having the best record in the league for two consecutive seasons -- and a potential back-to-back NBA MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo -- anything short of an NBA Finals berth would be considered a disappointment. Even then, there's still some that would view anything short of winning the Finals an unsuccessful season for Milwaukee. It will be up to Antetokounmpo to help lead the Bucks through a competitive Eastern Conference landscape that includes several other potential contenders in the Raptors, 76ers and Celtics.

Magic: This series will be an extremely tough one for Orlando, and if they're ultimately able to come out victorious it will be one of the biggest upsets in NBA history. The series will be especially tough for Orlando since they will be without the services of a couple of their younger players in Jonathan Isaac and Mo Bomba. Plus, Aaron Gordon is dealing with a hamstring injury; an issue that caused him to miss Orlando's final four seeding games. Ultimately, the Magic will need to play near-perfect basketball if they hope to best the Bucks, and that's certainly a tall task. 

Prediction

Even at full strength, the Magic don't have the personnel to match up with Milwaukee on either end of the floor, and the fact that they're a bit banged up makes a difficult task that much harder. The Bucks -- and Antetokounmpo -- have been playing dominant basketball all season, and they will be playing with added motivation, as they will be looking to avenge their early elimination from postseason contention last season. Crazier things have happened, but the Bucks should be able to take care of business in this one. Pick: Bucks -12