Sports

Magic hold on to beat Knicks 111-106

ORLANDO, FL -The Orlando Magic defeated the New York Knicks 111-106 in a back and forth battle that had playoff implications.

On a day where Dennis “3D” Scott was inducted into the Orlando Magic hall of fame, the Magic push forward to fight for a playoff spot that’s still a possibility.

Both teams came out of the gate scoring evenly. Orlando took advantage of a poorly shooting Knicks squad as at one point int the game was shooting 27%, stole the Magic were close to 50%

New York brought Mitchell Robinson back in later in the game, who helped strengthen the Knicks interior and cause problems for the Magic’s inside game.

The Knicks made 13 points off of the 10 Orlando turnovers, which helped them stay in the game.The move brought New York to within 8 points of the Magic late in the second quarter.

Father the Magic entered the half with a 53-45 lead, the built their lead over the Knicks up to 19.

New Your put more pressure on the inside against the Magic, double and triple teaming efforts in the paint against the Magic, and Thring those stops into points. 

Strong third quarters by Emmanuel Quickly and Quinten Grimes allowed the Knicks to end the Chris quarter in a 75-75 tie.

Orlando came on strong in the third quarter, but the Knicks pushed back as well, ending the quarter with a 105-97 lead.

Orlando, though having the 19 point lead in the third quarter, ended the game with 16 turnovers that lead to 28 Knicks points. That’s what kept this game close.

Orlando eded the game with a g strong fourth quarter, going against New York punch for such, keeping their slim lead as time ticked away. 

The Knicks continued to push the Magic, with Quickly making key 3-point shots while Gary Harris and Cole Anthony returned suit with key three point shots towards the end to keep the game out of reach.

Orlando’s shown a strong resilience for such a young team, refusing to give up. 

Even when the Knicks would score a key point, and some of the Magic players hung their heads down, Someone would come with a spark to keep the team pushing to sin the game.

The Knicks Head Coach Tom Thibodeau wasn’t happy with his team’s 3-point defense.

“Got to be better. Got to be better.” said Thibodeau. “I thought the third quarter we played well to get out of the hole. Start of the fourth we played poorly.”

Orlando Magic Head coach Jamahl Mosley was happy about his team’s continued resilience.

“They keep showing it.” Said Mosley. “I think that’s the sign of growth in these close games. They’re not getting rattled. They understand how we have to play coming down the stretch, getting stops first, and then being able to get out and run and execute our offense.”

The Magic remain 4 games behind the Chicago Bulls for the final play-in spot. They face the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday March 26th at 6pm at Amway Center in Orlando.

Back to top button