ORLANDO – The Orlando Magic defeated the New York Knicks 95-83 at the Amway Center in Orlando last night. The win brings the Magic to a 2-2 record after a two game road losing streak.
Nikola Vucevic scored 21 points to lead the Magic, Evan Fournier scored 16, and Markelle Fultz scored 7 pts as the Magic had a resurgence in the second half lead by Aaron Gordon, who broke out of his struggling struggles to score 15 points.
Gordon went 2 for 9 with five points in the first half, but came alive in the second half along with the rest of the team as the Magic scored 53 points in the second half on 51.2% shooting and 50% from beyond the arc.
Usually, the head coach gives a firery speech durning half time to get these kinds of results, but not this time.
“Yeah, and he (Gordon) was very verbal in the locker room at half time with his teammates,” Said Magic head coach Steve Clifford, “like “Hey, let’s get the ball moving, let’s move on defense, we’ve got to move the ball“”
Does this mean the Magic have a new vocal leader in the club house?
“My message was [about] the pace we play after the half. ” Gordon said. “Basically, I was just trying to encourage us to get the ball up, run, and move on defense. I think it worked.”
The Knicks (1-4) were coming off of a win over the 105-98 over the Bulls on Monday for their first win of the season. From their performance against the Magic, you could see the talent and the woes of the Knicks. 37.8% shooting for the game, 22% from 3, and were out rebounded by the Magic 52-44.
Julius Randle scored 16 points while NBA Draft star RJ Barrett dropped 9 points and gathered 2 rebounds.
The Magic next face the Milwaukee Buck’s on Friday night at Amway Center.
