The Boston Celtics came into the Amway Center tonight with a reputation of a tough defence and were listed as one of the teams who had victories with the highest point differential. But Orlando stayed persistent on the defensive end and defeated the Celtics, 110-91.
Magic head coach Scott Skyles roster move earlier this week of taking Victor Oladipo from the starting lineup and brining him off of the bench is still paying major dividends. Oladipo’s 20 point average since the move, plus his leadership, aggressiveness, and energy have made the Magic second unit hard to contend with.
The Celtic ball pressure had little effect on Oladipo, and he turned in a solid game with 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas scored 20 points and handed out seven assists for Boston, but he had little impact early in the game. Avery Bradley had 17 points, but didn’t score in the fourth quarter.
Other Magic standouts were Tobias Harris with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Andrew Nicholson (14 points), and Evan Fournier who turned in a 9 point performance in the first half. Fournier did not play in the second half due to the Magic lead and gave him time to nurse a sore hip.
The Magic now embark on a 10-day/ 5 game road trip through Minnesota (Tuesday), Utah (Thursday), the Los Angeles Clippers (Saturday), Denver (Dec. 8) and Phoenix (Dec. 9).
The Next Magic home game is Dec 11 vs LaBron James and the Cleveland Caveliers.
