The Orlando Magic and the Phoenix Suns meet in the Amway Center Wednesday night for an East vs West matchup. The Magic won 128-114 in a game where it all seemed to be working for the Magic. The Suns, on the other hand, were not as sharp. The Suns came out on fire as they had 37 points in the first quarter and led 37-31 at the end of one. Markelle Fultz was aggressive in the first with and gave the crowd a boost with a big block on Ricky Rubio.
Mo Bamba hits a three at the 9:20 mark in the second. It just seemed to go all the Magic’s way from there. They led at the half 65-58. Frank Kaminsky led all scorers at the half with 21 as the Magic did not have an answer for him. Terrence Ross and Aaron Gordon each had 12 points for Magic. Ross came in the game shooting and was looking for a big night.
Gordon comes out in the third quarter and looks like an all-star. He goes for 15 points in the third period alone. Gordon looked sharp and his shot looked pure and his defense was on point as well. Orlando Magic Defense looked good in the third. As they shut down a hot Kaminsky and held him to two points in the quarter. Although they seemed to play tough defense on this night it is something Coach Steve Clifford believes they need to work on.
“We have a lot of work to do defensively, we are not rebounding the ball nearly the way we need too,” Clifford stated. He goes on to talk about the offense and how it is coming along nicely They need the defense to be better if they want to run for the playoffs.
Of course, on this night they had all the right moves on both offense and defense. They had seven blocked shots with Mo Bamba getting four. That went along with his 10 boards and 11 points on the night. Mo on the challenge for the offense with their star, Vucevic, out with an ankle injury;
“We accepted the challenge, we embraced it, we are who we are now. Now, it’s a matter of continuing to capitalize on it.” As well, It is the sign of a good team when a star goes down the rest of the team picks it up. With back to back wins to show for it.
Devin Booker had a decent night but he had a tough time in Orlando. Not to mention He finished with 17 points and five assists, He was held in check most of the night. Mikal Bridges chipped in with 15 points as he had a solid night. It was the lack of defense by the Suns that lead to the loss.
Booker after the game was asked about not getting respect from the referees in the league, he stated;
” I think the respect will eventually come, till then I just got to keep playing hard.” That is the perfect attitude for a young player to have, props to Booker.
The Phoenix Suns will use this as a learning tool and move on to the next game. The Magic can use this as a building block for future games. In addition, consistency will be what the Magic will look for and need, both on the offense and defense. On this night the Orlando Magic take down the Suns.
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