Led by blistering hot shooting from the outside, the Orlando Magic defeated the New Jersey Nets/Philadelphia 76ers split squad, 108-86, in the third day of play at the Orlando Pro Summer League. Ryan Anderson and Maurice Ager, two former Nets, tied for game-high scoring honors, with 21 apiece. Kasib Powell added 19 and made 4 of his 5 three-point attempts, while little-used point guard Brian Chase splashed 5 three-balls of his own.
Unfortunately, 3QC's coverage of this game is a bit thin. Eddy attended today's first two games, but had to leave before the Magic's contest due to a prior commitment. I was out of commission all day because of FIBA regulations a bout with stomach flu. But we're doing our best here.
The first thing that jumps out at me from the Magic's side of the box score: 14 three-pointers in 25 attempts. In turn, the 25 threes accounted for one-third of the Magic's overall attempts. Let's take more time to appreciate this: Summer league games last 40 minutes, so this is really like the Magic teeing off 30 times from deep in a regulation game. That is... prolific.
They converted at a high percentage, which is good to see. But they also got it done inside. A day after sitting out entirely, Richard Hendrix started, played 24 minutes, and contributed 17 points and 12 rebounds. That's a man making the most of his opportunity. After the game, this blurb about Hendrix appeared on the Magic's official website:
With Orlando's frontcourt in need of a big man or two, you can be sure this team is taking a good look at Richard Hendrix. Magic Basketball Operations compared him to Jason Maxiell prior to the commencement of the summer season and he's started to live up to the billing.
That certainly bodes well for his chances of making the team. As for 3QC darling Russell Robinson? Not quite as impressive, at least on paper, as he was on Tuesday. 7 points, 1 rebound, 5 assists, and no turnovers in 14 minutes. Through three games, he's dished only 13 assists in 73 minutes, which isn't great. Conversely, he's only committed 3 turnovers in that stretch, which corroborates our assertion that he mostly plays within himself. I know it's early, but it's also probably safe to say that the Magic can do a heckuva lot worse than Robinson as their third-string point guard.
I do want to stress that this win isn't necessarily impressive. The Nets/Sixers split squad has looked sloppy all week, and it's the only team without a victory so far. Maybe the Nets/Sixers would have won if Chris Douglas-Roberts, arguably the best shooting guard through the first two days of camp, decided to assert himself more offensively. 1 shot attempt for CDR, in 28 minutes. I can't say for sure, having not been there, but it seems like that's probably a coaching decision.