The Orlando Magic (19-31) were beaten 128-109 on Saturday night when the Chicago Bulls (23-26) arrived for their 2nd meeting with the Magic. The Magic failed to bring the necessary defensive intensity to have any chance of victory. They did make a valiant effort late in the game with their reserves, but it was too little, too late.
“Sometimes it falls down to taking the easy route in some ways,” coach Jamahl Mosley said. “When it’s hard, you want to kind of just catch and shoot, not share the basketball. The guys were trying. They were moving the ball early on; we just weren’t making shots.
The Bulls took advantage of a fatigued Magic squad in the first half, which had returned to Orlando late Saturday morning following their defeat the night prior against the Miami Heat. At halftime, the Bulls had a 13-point lead.
For the third quarter, Chicago built up a sizable lead, having a 25-point advantage with only a few minutes remaining.
Jamahl Mosley, the Magic coach, changed the team’s lineup by putting in Cole Anthony, Jalen Suggs, Admiral Schofield, Bol Bol and Moe Wagner. Wagner ended up with the highest scoring of the five, contributing a total of 27 points as a substitute.
Their mission was to restore the deficit.
The Magic’s five unanticipated reserves kept the game close, shrinking the deficit to just five points with four minutes remaining. Nonetheless, the quintet eventually lost steam and the opportunity slipped away. Perhaps the back to back games are getting to the young magic team but this is something they will have to get used to.
“The consistent thing is the lack of energy,” guard Cole Anthony said. “I don’t know what it is. We’re just gonna have to find some energy because the back-to-backs aren’t going anywhere.-we’ve just got to find some energy. We’ve got to be able to do that for four quarters.”
Wagner brings the magic some much needed momentum before the final quarter immediately putting the magic 90-98 with 10:22 left in the 4th but this wasn’t enough. The Bulls ended the game with a strong 17-3 run in the last four minutes.
LaVine and DeRozan both scored 32 points each, topping the leaderboard for scoring. Vucevic added 26 points and collected 13 rebounds.
When Monday night comes, the Magic will be back on the court as they journey to Philadelphia to battle James Harden, Joel Embiid, and the Sixers. The start of the game is set for 7 o’clock.
