The Orlando Magic faced one of their toughest opponents of the season on Tuesday, March 15. While the Brooklyn Nets might not appear difficult due to their record, they are terrifying when playing on the road. With the Nets coming to town, the Magic were in for a rough one on Tuesday night.
Recap
The Magic got blitzed in the first quarter. Setting their franchise record for points in a quarter, the Nets put up 48 in the first frame alone. The second quarter featured more of the same, and the Magic found themselves trailing 86-56 at halftime. Thankfully, Orlando came out swinging in the third quarter and won the frame by three points. The fourth quarter was all Brooklyn once again, and the Nets rolled out of town with a 150-108 victory.
To get this out of the way, Kyrie Irving was on a mission. One night after Karl-Anthony Towns dropped a franchise record 60 points, Kyrie accomplished the same feat in this contest. As a team, the Nets were unguardable. Shooting 60.2% from the field, 59.3% from three, and 82.4% from the foul line, Brooklyn would have beat any team in the league in this one.
For the Magic, a shooting split of 38/37/78 is unlikely to win most nights, so it was a particularly unfavorable combination of poor offense and defense. In a season that is dedicated to tanking, a game like this helps your draft odds but injures morale for the rest of the season.
Orlando, who has been playing better as of late, didn’t have a 20-point scorer on the night. Cole Anthony led the team with 19 points and seven assists. Mo Wagner continued his stellar play off the bench and chipped in 17 points and 11 rebounds in his 22 minutes. Overall, Anthony and Wagner were two of the few bright spots for the Magic on what turned out to be a historic night.
Up Next
The Magic continue their prolonged home stand against a more favorable matchup on Thursday, March 17. The Detroit Pistons, who are a fellow bottom-dweller of the East, come to the Amway Center in a game that is curiously the only game on Thursday night.