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The San Antonio Spurs had a blow out win over the Orlando Magic 129-90 in a fairly one sided contest. The Spurs came into this on the back of a commanding win over the Philapdelphia 76ers and maintained their great form in this match also.
With the win, the San Antonio Spurs improve to a 17-15 record and are currently placed at the 8th position in the Western Conference playoff standings. Meanwhile, the Orlando Magic, have a 14-16 record and are also lying at the 8th position in the Eastern Conference playoff standings. The Magic had won the earlier meeting between the two teams at the home of the Spurs.
The Spurs have improved massively over the past few weeks after some embarrassing defeats. They have got some good recent wins and all their star players are chipping nicely for the team.
Here are some key talking points from the match:
#3 Good defensive effort shown by the Spurs
The Spurs have shown great defensive intensity and determination over the past few games. They have held their opponents under 100 points for six consecutive games after giving up too many points in the earlier matches. They have got some good wins in these matches.
The Spurs no longer have their Defensive Player of the Year in Kawhi Leonard and their defensive point guard, Dejounte Murray also got injured before the start of the season. But the Spurs as a team are playing great defense in recent matches. They are executing the plans on defense and it is showing dividends on the win column. The Orlando Magic shot only 38% from the field for the match.
The Spurs will be hoping to continue their great run when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves in their next match.
#2 No one showing up for the Magic
The Orlando Magic have been a good team this season. They have already won at the Spurs earlier in the season. They swept the season series against the Los Angeles Lakers and also got a victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. They have been playing good basketball but in this match, none of their players showed up for the team.
The Magic were playing without Vucevic who has been outstanding for them this season and his absence was definitely felt in today's encounter. Gordon who scored the team-high points in the first meeting with Spurs had 0 points after the first half. In the end, he finished with 12 points for the match.
Augustin led the team in scoring with 17 points. Only 4 players for the Magic scored in double figures.
The Magic next visit the Bulls and will be looking for a victory.
#1 Hot shooting from the Spurs
The Spurs had a very hot shooting night. They shot 64.9% from the floor which is the highest ever at the Magic. The Spurs who are the league-leading three-point shooting team, shot an unbelievable 63.2% from the 3PT line for the match.
Everyone was shooting hot for the Spurs. LaMarcus Aldridge scored the game-high 20 points at 6-9 shooting from the field. DeMar DeRozan and Forbes both added 17 points to the teams' total. Marco Belinelli led the bench unit in scoring with 18 points on 7-9 shooting from the floor and 4-6 shooting from the 3 PT line. The Spurs also had 29 assists for the match on 11 turnovers.
It was a great all-round performance from the Spurs. They will be hoping for similar performances in the upcoming matches if they want to hold onto the playoff position in this loaded Western Conference.
