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Final Score: Orlando Magic vs Toronto Raptors, 116-87
Toronto Raptors were blown out by the Orlando Magic yesterday at the Amway Center.
Magic avoided their fifth loss in a row by beating the Raptors at home under an epic performance by Nikola Vucevic. Vucevic scored 30 points, 20 rebounds and eight assists.
It was an excellent night for the Magic team as they not only had a great night offensively but also defensively. They rebounded the ball well, and shot effortlessly over the Raptors' side, especially in the paint.
Raptors, on the other hand, had a horrible shooting night. The leading scorer for the team was Kawhi Leonard who contributed 21 points and six rebounds. They missed the services of Kyle Lowry and Valanciunas which further escalated the blow out process.
Raptors led the game at the end of the first quarter with three points but were outscored in the second and third by 67-34. Let us talk about the three main points from the match.
#3 Raptors had the worst shooting night in their franchise history
After leading by three points at the end of the first quarter, it was all a downhill ride for the Raptors.
Raptors shot 5 out of 23 from the field in the second quarter and felt weak on the defensive end. They scored just 19 points in the quarter and gave away 32. Thus the lead of three converted into a trail by 9 points.
Danny Green picked up his third foul during the 6th-minute mark of the second quarter and had to be benched, which escalated the horrible shooting display.
Raptors ended the game with a 29% shooting from the field. However, they knocked down 12 three points in the game which was the only positive sign for them.
Raptors had a franchise-worst 2-point shooting night with just 26.2%:
#2 Orlando Magic had a great night on both the ends of the floor
They had a great night defensively as they kept Raptors to just 87 points. They never let them shoot easy baskets and pressurized Raptors' offense resulting in turnovers and missed shots.
They kept Pascal Siakam quiet as he just scored four points on the night. Siakam has been impressive this season and has been moving Raptors' scoring time and again. Keeping him cold was a great effort by the Magic team.
Rebounding is one department where Magic needed to focus more. They had an excellent rebounding night, outscoring Raptors by 60-41.
If we talk offensively, five players, Jonathan Isaac, Nikola Vuceviv, Terrence Ross, Wesley Lwundu and Dj Augustin, had points in double figures. Aaron Gordon scored 9 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
Also, Magic had a great ball movement tonight and finished with 29 assists on 44 shots made. They forced Raptors to cover a lot of ground and scored easy buckets in the paint.
Overall, Magic were the better team in every department.
#1 Nikola Vucevic had a massive game with 30 points and 20 rebounds
Nikola Vucevic is All-Star material, and he proved it tonight. He finished with 30 points, grabbed 20 rebounds and dished eight assists.
Magic had a 21-6 run in the late first half which turned the game around. Vucevic scored 12 of those 21 points in the sequence. Not only this, he dominated the paint and scored over everybody who came in his way.
Vecevic became the ninth player in the history to post at least 30 points, 20 rebounds and eight assists in a game. He joined the elite company of Charles Barkley, Cousins, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, George McGinnis, Tim Duncan, David Lee, Dirk Nowitzki and Alex English.
Below is what he said after the match:
"I think guys understood that it was time for us to turn things around. Tonight everything clicked for us on both ends, but defence is probably the main reason we won."
Guess the Lakers players!
