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Orlando Magic aim to continue home dominance of Milwaukee Bucks

Orlando Magic Elfrid Payron looks to pass the basketball as he leaps into the paint in the second half against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden in New York City on January 23, 2015. The Knicks defeated the Magic 113-106. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Orlando Magic Elfrid Payron looks to pass the basketball as he leaps into the paint in the second half against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden in New York City on January 23, 2015. The Knicks defeated the Magic 113-106. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

The Orlando Magic hope to stop a six-game slide when they host the Milwaukee Bucks Thursday at Amway Center.

The chances of that happening are good as evidenced by a 17-game home winning streak versus the Bucks.

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The Magic will also welcome the Dallas Mavericks to town and are winless in three straight as the host.

Orlando's losing streak continued with Monday's 103-94 setback to the Memphis Grizzlies. Nikola Vucevic posted 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Victor Oladipo added 18 points for the Magic, who allowed 67 points in the first half and committed 18 turnovers.

Dewayne Dedmon had 10 points and 10 boards for his first career double-double.

"He goes out, he competes and he plays hard," Orlando coach Jacque Vaughn said of Dedmon.

The Magic have lost 12 of their last 14 games, and are 5-15 at home.

Milwaukee will wrap up a three-game road trip Thursday and opened the trek with a loss in San Antonio on Sunday. The Bucks then bounced back Tuesday with a 109-102 triumph at Miami and received 17 points from both Khris Middleton and Brandon Knight.

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Jerryd Bayless (15), O.J. Mayo (14), Giannis Antetokounmpo (13), John Henson (12) and Jared Dudley (11) rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Bucks, who shot 54.9 percent and used 54 bench points to win for the fifth time in the last nine tries.

"It's always been the next guy up," said Bucks coach Jason Kidd. "The nice thing that Bayless (did), all his shots were great looks, under control."

The Heat blew a 73-64 lead and Milwaukee later used a 14-4 burst to tie the game at 82-82.

Milwaukee is 13-12 on the road and will host Portland on Saturday. Ersan Ilyasova (groin) is questionable against Orlando.

The Bucks suffered a 101-85 loss to the Magic on Nov. 14 and Tobias Harris recorded 26 points and 10 rebounds for the hosts. Knight countered with 24 points for Milwaukee, which has lost 17 in a row, 18 of 19 and 20 of its last 22 trips to Orlando.

The last time the Bucks beat the Magic on the road was Dec. 29, 2004 in a 111-105 decision. These two teams will meet again March 11 and April 4.

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[SportsNetwork.com]

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