ORLANDO MAGIC 112 – 100 CHARLOTTE HORNETS.
It has been two weeks & 5 games since we have been able to celebrate a win.
Last night we got the job done with an improved offensive performance.
Built On Focus
In the first half defensively the Magic gave up a lot of second chance points. With better focus in the second half we prevented these & were able to build a good lead that we held comfortably.
The Magic won all 4 quarters.
We had good production on the night across the team, seeing 6 players score double figures.
Good Team Stats
Scoring was led by Nikola Vucevic with 22 & Evan Fournier with 17.
As he reached the equivalent of a full season of games in the NBA (82 games since being drafted) Markelle Fultz gave us a complete performance. He produced a double-double that included a career high 14 assists, to go with 12 points & 2 steals.
We got hustle from Wes Iwundu who looked good back in the starting rotation at small forward. Aaron Gordon being at the 4 is so much more effective in this role than Khem Birch. AG also recorded a double-double, that included 16 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists & 2 steals. He did fall short at the free throw line again, leaving points behind as he shot only 2 of 6.
From the bench we saw Mo Bamba, Michael Carter-Williams & Terence Ross contribute solidly with points, rebounds & asists.
Mo gave us a glimpse last night of the player he can be. Totalling 12 points on 5 of 6 shooting, hit 2 big 3 pointers, took 7 rebounds, 2 blocks & even dished out an assist. He is still developing, having now played 92 NBA games but still only averaging 15.8 minutes per career games.
Onwards
We move to a 22 & 28 record, sitting securely at this point in 8th. The teams below us in the chasing pack all lost. The Nets above us in 7th unfortunately won, defeating the Suns by 22 points.
We now move to Boston for the first night of a back-to-back on Wednesday.
