Jameer Nelson looks to pass around the tough defense of Tim Duncan and Tony Parker. His 15 points and 9 assists weren't enough to propel the Magic past the Spurs.
Photo by Eric Gay, the Associated Press
The Magic gave the Spurs plenty of trouble in the first half, but fell apart in the second half and lost by an embarrassing 128-110 margin. Here's the boxscore.
At one point tonight, the Spurs had 22 assists and 0 turnovers; the Magic had one offensive rebound. The fact that the game was close at that juncture illustrates this team's potential. Of all our losses, this one was the only one where it seemed like we had a chance to win.
But you know what? We didn't deserve it. The 128 points for the Spurs were a season-high. Brent Barry partied like it was 1999 with 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Tim Duncan corralled a season-high 16 rebounds. The Spurs' bench outscored ours by a 51-11 margin. Rashard Lewis only took 10 shots, scoring 12 points.
It's encouraging that the Magic dropped 64 points in a half against the Spurs' defense. And it's nice to see Howard go for 34 points and 16 rebounds against and elite team. But I'd honestly rather have him score 2 points and grab 3 rebounds if it meant we'd win.
We get the Bobcats on Friday night in a game that should mark the Magic debuts of Brian Cook and Maurice Evans, the team's new acquisitions who were not on the active roster tonight.