Orlando, FL– An injury-riddled and depleted Magic team couldn’t overcome one of the best teams in the association tonight as the Timberwolves blew them out 113-92.

Paolo Banchero, who has been on a hot streak and carried this Magic team to some big-time victories as of late, all came to an end this evening. Banchero was only able to put together 18 points this evening as he shot a porous 8 of 22 from the field. Jaden McDaniels who is one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA had Banchero locked up all evening as he was physical with him, moved his feet well, and contested what felt like every jumper.

Minnesota took advantage of an Orlando team that didn’t have as much length tonight and got off to an incredible start to begin this game. Both Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert contributed 11 points each in the opening period. Towns made all three of his shots from deep in that first quarter alone, and Gobert took advantage of his mismatches with multiple dunks, layups, and finishes at the rim as the Timberwolves led 33-16 at the end of the first.

In the second quarter, the game began to get away from the Magic as they couldn’t matchup with this Minnesota team. The Timberwolves got into a zone defense, collapsed the paint, and forced the Magic into a lot of contested three-pointers which the Magic shot only 6-21 from behind the arc in that first half. Anthony Black came in and had a few nice plays with a fast break bounce-pass to Mo Wagner which led to a transition dunk, a nice steal on Naz Reid in the post, and a very confident three-pointer on the right wing over Reid. Orlando trailed big at halftime 67-37.

That second half wasn’t any more favorable to the Magic as the Timberwolves ran away with the game all evening long. Rudy Gobert, who finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds in the evening, had a huge alley-oop slam over two defenders on a lob pass from Conley which felt like the nail in the coffin for this Orlando team. Despite a few big-time dunks from Banchero in that third period, there weren’t many positives to takeaway.

Cole Anthony who appeared in less than seven minutes tonight exited the game and didn’t return in the second half. Coach Mosley said that Cole is still dealing with a thigh contusion and it flared up, hence why he only played a limited amount of minutes. Jalen Suggs was holding his hamstring a bit during the game and appeared a bit gimpy at times, but in the postgame, he said that he was good.

Markelle Fultz, who appeared in just his second game since returning from injury, still looked a bit rusty and out of rhythm. Fultz was finally able to get on the scoreboard as he finished with four points, on 2-7 shooting from the field, and three rebounds, in just 13 minutes of action.

“I think we’ll have to take a look at a couple more games before I can fully assess what that looks like.” Coach Mosley on Markelle’s second game back. “He’s gonna continue to read and take what the game gives you– he’s in the gap and then he finds and penetrates in the gaps to find other guys, which is one thing he’s great at.”

Orlando was forced into a lot of threes tonight as Minnesota took away the paint and the Magic shot an abysmal 13 of 42 from deep. The Magic will now get ready for a four-game road trip as they will be playing in Miami on Friday evening.