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The Orlando Magic dropped their fifth game in a row inside the bubble. Their loss came at the hands of the Brooklyn Nets in a 108-96 defeat.
The Nets victory was led by Timothy Luwawu-Cabarrot who started off hot, scoring 12 of the team’s first 16 points.
He led a 16-0 Brooklyn run that turned a 17-13 Orlando advantage into a 29-17 Nets lead. Orlando on the other hand was only shooting 26 percent in the first quarter, missing their final six three-point shots.
Things did not seem to improve in the second quarter for Orlando, as Brooklyn extended their lead all the way to 21 points.
The person who kept Orlando’s victory hopes alive was James Ennis, who went three-for-three from the field and led the way with 10 points.
The Magic finished the first half shooting 29.5 percent from the field, and 33.3 percent from behind the arch.
Brooklyn had a 60-43 lead going into the break, which is their largest halftime lead of the season.
Orlando cut the Nets’ lead to start off the third with a 9-0 run. After Brooklyn extended their lead back to 20, Orlando’s Markelle Fultz found his rhythm, helping his team cut the lead back to 11.
Orlando closed the third on a 13-6 run that saw rookie Vic Law‘s first career bucket.
First career field goal for @Followthe_LAW.#WholeNewGame pic.twitter.com/20TYNafgKl
— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) August 11, 2020
Orlando seemed to lose its fire during the last frame of the game as they were not able to cut the Nets lead further.
Fultz finished the game with eight points, his scoring high inside the bubble. Small forward Wes Iwundu matched Fultz in scoring and added five rebounds.
Nikola Vucevic and Khem Birch scored 12 points each with 10 and nine rebounds respectively.
Battle of the benches
The starting lineups for this match were anything but usual on both sides.
Only 10 players suited up for the Magic. Orlando went into this game without Aaron Gordon, Evan Fournier, Terrence Ross, Michael Carter-Williams, Mo Bamba and Jonathan Isaac.
On the other side, the Nets only had nine players available. They were already without Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Spencer Dinwiddie, and DeAndre Jordan. But they also gave the day off to Jarrett Allen, Caris LeVert, Joe Harris, Jamal Crawford and Garrett Temple.
https://t.co/93efEm017U pic.twitter.com/RYVKTybpxx
— Stephen Cameron (@StephenMagicHQ) August 11, 2020
This game served as a good opportunity for younger players and athletes that do not get a lot of minutes to show off their skills.
Unfortunately, Orlando Magic head coach Steve Clifford thought that his guys did not take advantage of this.
“You have to be at the right intensity level, and we had some key guys tonight who have to get ready who didn’t do that. You can’t waste days. We didn’t get much out of this game other than some conditioning.” Clifford said.
What’s next for Orlando?
After the Nets clinched the seventh seed in the East with a victory over the Clippers, Orlando will stay locked in at eight.
Orlando will wrap up their seeding schedule in the bubble on Thursday against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson is not expected to play in this game. This will be the chance for the Magic to get a win and snap their losing streak before heading to the playoffs.
