ORLANDO, FL – Michael Carter-Williams had a low scoring night. That was because he was kind of busy. Mike had the assignment of covering the one ad only Stef Curry as the Orlando Magic gutted out a win against Curry’s Golden State Warriors 124-120 Friday night at The Amway Center.
Michael (MCW)’s strongest skill is on defense, even though as the Magic are pulling out of a disastrous streak of games with crushing injuries which, at one point, let them with only 8 players available on the roster. MCW was coming off of an injury, after being out for weeks, and was scoring 20 + points and helping the squad stay competitive.
On Friday night, MCW stayed on Curry. That was his main focus. Curry is a two-time MVP, and one of the best shooters in the world, so it was no easy task.
Evan Fournier had a great night, also covering Curry, with 2 points. Both Carter-Williams and Fournier’s defense held Curry to shoot just 11 of 29 from the filed and hit only 6 of his 16 3-point tires.
Chuma Okeke had a breakthrough night. Okeke scored eight of his 11 points in the fourth quarter. With 4.5 minutes to play and the Magic still trailing by six, Chuma rotated over as Stephen Curry sprung free toward the basket on a cut through the lane. He lifted up and blocked the shot, staying put in time to dig out the loose ball after Nikola Vucevic batted it into the air.His last of three 3-pointers on the night gave Orlando a 116-114 lead with 2:19 left.
The biggest star (who should be an All-Star) was Nikola Vucevic. Vucevic had a triple-double night with 30 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the way for Orlando. Terrance Ross also came through when needed and scored 24 points.
Curry was held to a mere 29 points, but dud dish out 11 assists. Kelly Oubre Jr scored 26 and shots 10 for 18 from the field, and Andrew Wiggins put in 16 points for Golden state.
The game Friday night was all about big runs, with key runs taking place in the fourth quarter. After trailing by 13 in the fourth, Orlando made a 20-6 run to gain the lead in the game’s final 3 minutes.
Orlando held on with clutch shots from the free throw line from Vucevic, Williams, and James Ennis.
