ORLANDO – The Orlando Magic continue to struggle to score in another big loss, this time to the San Antonio Spurs, 120-97. With the tearing down of the roster with the trades of Aaron Gordon, Nikola Vucevic, and Evan Fournier among other, the Magic are left with mostly young players getting minutes and looking to find their way to win. It was ugly.
But what did you expect.
The Magic are in the beginning of anther rebuilding cycle, and this is the first taste of the aftermath, ugly losses. It comes with the territory. Keep in mind, these guys are in a really tough spot, I mean Robert
Franks was signed to a 10-day contract on Monday and was in for almost 15 minutes that night once Mo Bamba left the game.
There was hope in Chuma Okeke and Mo Bamba, who chowed promise as they increased their minutes. Both Chuma and Bamba scored career high scoring points during this experiment, but in the past few games, both had come up limping with hip injuries, Bamba leaving Monday’s contest against San Antonio, and did not return.
What should be noted is that both teams formed a circle, arm in arm to note unity after yet another shooting of an unarmed black man, This time Daunte Wright, in Minneapolis.
In today’s NBA, the 3-point shot is mandatory for a win, and with the Magic shooting a paltry 5-20 of their 3-point attempts, things were not looking good.
The Spurs went back to back with Orlando in the first quarter, but after going from a 13-7 score, to ending the quarter 28-16, it was evident what the rest of the night might look like.
Let’s go to the stats, RJ Hampton scored a season-high 16-points, followed by Wendell Carter Jr’s 15 and Dwayne Bacon’s 14 points.Terrance Ross was blanketed, but managed to score 8 points.
The Magic had 15 turnovers leading to 18 Spurs points (ouch) and an overall dreary game.
For the Spurs, DeMar DeRozen scores 19 points followed by DeJounte Murray with 17, and 51% shooting by the Spurs.
The Magic next travel to Chicago ro face former center Nikola Vucevic and the Chicago Bulls at the United Center on Wednesday night at 7pm
