Orlando, FL – The Magic came into the Madison Square Garden and snapped the Knicks’ win streak with a thrilling 98-94 victory to set them just a game back of the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference.
Orlando took advantage of New York’s struggles protecting the paint and was able to barrage their way down low, scoring 52 points in the paint as opposed to the Knicks’ 36. In a game where both teams were without one of their star players, they sought help from rotational players and Orlando’s bench unit responded in a much bigger way than New York’s. Chuma Okeke continues to excel in his starting role and is blossoming into a real contender to be added to the Magic’s rotation, pouring in 15 points on 80% shooting from deep which was the game-high.
Despite some of the player’s struggles, others stepped in to keep Orlando in the game and the struggling shooters impacted the game in other ways. Jalen Suggs shot just 12.5% from the field, one of his worst shooting games of the season, but he was able to rebound the ball, get out in transition, and set his teammates up to score. Caleb Houstan also cooled off from his three-point shooting, going just 1-7 on the night, but kept his head up high and Coach Mosley encouraged him to keep shooting while he was open to instill courage in him. Goga took full advantage of the bench bigs, grabbing four offensive rebounds on the night. Goga and Isaiah Hartenstein were battling it out on the glass, with the Knick big getting five offensive rebounds, but Orlando’s starter bullied New York’s bench unit.
Off of Orlando’s bench, everyone performed their role exceptionally well. Fultz and Ingles set everyone up, getting 11 of the Magic’s 26 assists, Carter Jr. looked healthy and played like his old self scoring 17 points on the night, Cole Anthony got an efficient 15 points of his own, and Jonathan Isaac held things down defensively while opening up opportunities for his teammates on the other end.
Orlando did what they have been doing best all season: Played some lockdown defense. The Knicks shot 39.8% from the field and 32.5% from downtown, with Julius Randle in particular struggling to get to his usual spots. One player from New York stood out from the crowd though, with the recently extended Miles McBride filling in Jalen Brunson’s starting role and getting by the Magic’s perimeter defenders. He got himself 20 points, a career-high for the third-year man. With the Magic keyed in on other New York players, McBride was able to get the shots he wanted and was hitting them.
The game was neck and neck for most of the game, even with New York enjoying an 11-point lead, but Orlando came through and scored 25 points in the fourth quarter while allowing just 16 from the home side, which secured their victory in the end.
The Magic will end this current four game road trip on Wednesday night when they travel to Atlanta to face their division rivals in hopes of finishing the road trip with a .500 record.