Orlando, FL – The Magic marched into the Wizard’s house to kindle the flame of their newly founded win streak and came out victorious with a 127-119 win in Washington, DC.
Both teams started the game off with some fast-paced basketball, getting plenty of transition opportunities. Jalen Suggs in his first game back from injury hit two quick threes to give the Magic some momentum from beyond the arc and Wendell Carter Jr. soon followed with a three of his own.
The rookie, Anthony Black, was getting boards over everybody and getting out in transition to help his team get easy points down the floor. When he wasn’t the initiator he was the finisher, scoring 11 points in the first quarter alone. The defense from the rookie was immense as well, disrupting Tyus Jones’ game.
The Magic stars Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner got off slow scoring-wise but were providing the assists to their teammates all quarter long, but in the end, the Wizards were playing equally well and the score was tied up at 33 to end the first quarter.
The second quarter was a more tame game with the pace slowing down drastically. The backup centers showed out this quarter, with both Mo Wagner and Goga playing great in their way. Mo Wagner got to the line, grabbed boards, and made shots, while Goga was getting to the rim off of pick-and-rolls and giving the Magic extra possessions.
The rest of the quarter was more so the Magic defense showing why they are one of the top defensive sides in the league and making quick
stops against Washington’s players. The quarter ended with the Magic holding on to a three-point lead to close the half out with hopes to score some more and put the game away.
The third quarter was all Orlando, with Banchero going off for 12 points in this quarter alone and Franz pouring in 12 of his own, with the help of three Banchero assists. The rest of the Magic players played incredible as well, shooting 75% from deep and 70% from the field. The team got to the line six times and made four, with both misses coming from Franz.
Washington shot well from the field but poorly from three-point range due to Orlando’s suffocating perimeter defense. The Wizards simply couldn’t keep up with the Magic who were firing on all cylinders this quarter and as a result, Washington fell into a 10-point deficit.
The Wizards did their best to make a comeback in the 4th quarter by making their three-point shots and keeping the Magic off their three-point line, but Orlando just continued to barged their way into the paint and force turnovers.
Black was the cause of a lot of the Wizard’s struggles in the 4th quarter as he came up with two steals in the quarter alone, bumping his total up to four. Offensively, he hit a three to bring his game total to a career-high 23 points.
He wasn’t the only Magic player who was exceptional tonight though; there were three players with 20 or more points and seven double-digit scorers tonight, which also means any player who took more than three shots got to double digits tonight, showing the young team’s efficiency.
The Magic cap off this emphatic team win and celebrate their rookie’s career game by going back to Orlando to host the 76ers without Joel Embiid as the Magic will look to extend their win streak to three games.
