ORLANDO, FLA- Due to a solid-team effort on both ends of the floor, the Orlando Magic (13-21, 13th in East) blew out the San Antonio Spurs (10-22, 14th in West) 133-113 at the Amway Center on December 23rd. With the win, Orlando has now won eight of their last nine games after starting the 2022-2023 season with a 5-20 record. Due to this, the Magic are just two games behind the No. 10 seed Toronto Raptors (15-18), who hold the final Eastern Conference Play-In spot.
In reference to the 20-point victory versus the Spurs, third-year guard Cole Anthony served as the Magic’s No. 1 scoring option. In 31 minutes off the bench, Anthony recorded a team-high 23 points, ten rebounds, and nine assists while shooting 8-10 (80.0%) from the field, 4-4 (100.0%) from three-point range, and 3-3 (100.0%) from the free-throw line. Even though Anthony failed to notch his first triple-double since High School, Anthony finished the game with a plus/minus score of +22, his highest mark of the season.
“When it happens, it’s going to happen naturally. I wasn’t going to force it,” Anthony said. “I tried to distribute the ball and they made the shots. But all the credit goes to the team. They got me a lot of easy shots and they put me in position to get those rebounds.”
It’s worth noting that Anthony wasn’t the only player to post a solid outing for Orlando in the win. To begin, 2021-2022 All-Rookie First Team Selection Franz Wagner notched 21 points and four rebounds on 7-15 () shooting from the field and 2-3 (66.7%) shooting from three-point range, earning a game-high plus/minus of +36. Likewise, 2022 No. 1 pick Paolo Banchero had 18 points, six rebounds, and four assists in 29 minutes, while Moritz Wagner (17/8/1) and Bol Bol (14/2/2) each scored double-digit points. Finally, Markelle Fultz posted a well-rounded statline of eight points, seven rebounds, eight assists, and four steals in his 13th start of the season.
After missing 17 straight games with a foot injury, Star Forward Wendell Carter Jr, made his return to Orlando’s lineup. Considering the aforementioned circumstances, Carter Jr played well, recording eight points, four rebounds, two assists, and one steal on 4-9 (44.4%) shooting from the field in 19 minutes off the bench. Similar to Carter Jr, Gary Harris (9/2/2) and Mo Bamba (9/5/1) both played meaningful minutes off the bench after dealing with respective early-season injuries.
Unlike Orlando, San Antonio has avoided a number of early-season injuries so far this season, and ran a twelve-man rotation on Friday. In reference to this, third-year forward Keldon Johnson scored a team-high 17 points on 5-14 (35.7%) shooting from the field, along with four rebounds and four assists. Second-year Guard Tre Jones wasn’t far behind Johnson, notching 16 points, four rebounds, and eight assists, while 2022 No. 9 pick Jeremy Sochan (13/9/4) and 2020 No. 11 pick Devin Vassell (14/0/2/4) each posted double-digit points as starters.
“We played two and three quarters quarters well,” Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich said, “but we have a hard time putting together a 48-minute game. We saw that when the defense collapsed at the end of the third quarter into the fourth when they outscored us in a 10-minute period 46-20. So we’ve seen it before and we saw it tonight.”
As a team, Orlando was extremely efficient, going 50-87 (57.5%) from the field, 17-32 (53.1%) from three-point range, and 16-20 (80.0%) from the free-throw line. For comparison, San Antonio shot just 44-97 (45.4%) from the field, 12-38 (31.6%) from three-point range, and 13-18 (72.2%) from the free-throw line. Furthermore, both Orlando and San Antonio did well limiting turnovers and personal fouls. As a team, the Magic committed 17 turnovers and 15 personal fouls, while the Spurs had 13 turnovers and 18 personal fouls.
Following their aforementioned win versus the Spurs, the Magic will attempt to notch their ninth win in their last ten games as they play the Lakers (13-20, 13th in West) at the Amway Center on December 27th at 8:00 PM Eastern Time. Meanwhile, San Antonio will try to end their two-game losing streak as they face the surging Utah Jazz (19-16, 7th in West) on December 26th at 7:00 Eastern Time.