The Magic Stay Unbeaten After Sweeping the Wizards

There’s no doubt that the Orlando Magic have a bright future ahead of them. Having team-friendly contracts and a boatload of draft picks is great moving forward, but this doesn’t help the Magic contend for a playoff spot right now. Having to play the 76ers, Mavericks, Bucks, Celtics, and Nets at the beginning of the season is no easy task. So the Magic must get on a winning streak as soon as possible. This winning streak has a great chance to start now, after upsetting the Miami Heat on Opening Day and now sweeping the Washington Wizards. All of the sudden, the Magic are 3-0 and have the best record in the Eastern Conference. We’ll see how long this winning streak will go, but the Magic certainly have their eyes set on the Playoffs after a scoring hot start to the 2020-2021 season.

Magic win Game 1 despite Russell Westbrook’s historic performance

The Orlando Magic beat the Washington Wizards 130-120 on Saturday night, overcoming another triple-double by Russell Westbrook in his home debut for the Wizards. Westbrook had 15 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists to become the fourth player in NBA history to record a triple-double in his team’s first two games. Magic Johnson (twice), Jerry Lucas, and Oscar Robertson previously accomplished the feat. Westbrook is the first player to do it with a new team after being acquired from Houston in the off-season for John Wall. Westbrook, who averaged a triple-double three straight seasons from 2016-17 to 2018-19 with Oklahoma City, had just two points at the half and finished shooting 6 for 19 from the field. Bradley Beal had 39 points, seven rebounds, 5 assists, and two steals for the Wizards, while Thomas Bryant pitched in 19 points and five rebounds.

Despite the triple-double from Westbrook and the big night from Beal, who had 11 points in the fourth, the Magic were in control for most of the game. Washington’s final lead came at 101-100 on a dunk by Robin Lopez with 8:46 left. Orlando then used a 13-2 run in which five different players scored to go up 113-103 and seal the game. The Magic’s veterans had another good showing on Saturday. Ross led the Magic in scoring with 25 points, and Vucevic recorded another double-double, with 22 points and 17 rebounds. Fultz played a good game as well, scoring 21 points, four rebounds, and seven assists. The team played well in their first meeting with the Wizards and will look to continue that in game two of the series.

Magic storm 17-point comeback to win Game 2 over the Wizards

After trailing by 17 points entering the 4th quarter, the Orlando Magic came back and earned a 120-113 victory over the Washington Wizards. The impressive comeback gave the Magic their first 3-0 start to the season for the first time since 2009-10. Fultz recorded a career-high 26 points for the Magic, and even pitched in two rebounds and two assists. Ross also threw in a team-high 26 points off the bench, providing Orlando’s second unit with important scoring. Ultimately, Washington’s second unit killed the double-digit lead for the Wizards. Orlando’s bench outscored Washington’s bench 50-31, and with Westbrook sitting out this game for rest, Washington’s second unit cost the Wizards the game. Bradley Beal did lead all scorers on Sunday with 29 points. Beal also threw in five rebounds and seven assists for Washington. Raul Neto replaced Westbrook and did have 22 points, five rebounds, and four assists on Sunday.

Vucevic played a big role in mounting the team’s historic comeback as well as Fultz and Ross did. Vucevic scored in the post to give Orlando the lead for good at 114-113 with 25.1 seconds left, and gave the Magic the last laugh against Washington. In addition to this, Vucevic flirted with a third straight double-double at 15 points and eight rebounds. Even with no Jonathan Isaac, it’s seemed like Vucevic hasn’t had any problems with sticking with the opponents best big men every night. Cole Anthony had another strong performance off the bench, with  12 points and seven rebounds. Evan Fournier’s defensive skills were exposed by Beal every possession, showing how big of a liability Fournier can be on a defensively-talented team. Fournier somewhat made up for this, however, with his 19 points he had on Sunday.