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The Orlando Magic fell behind against the San Antonio Spurs quickly on Tuesday night, and never reversed their fortunes. Behind 70 bench points, the Spurs cruised to a 123-101 victory against a Magic team which Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel described as having "bad" body language. Victor Oladipo finished with 22 points, five rebounds, and six assists for the Magic, which dropped to 2-5 in exhibition play, while Arron Afflalo added 17 and Jason Maxiell 16.
Patrick Mills led the Spurs with 22 points and five steals off the bench. Kawhi Leonard had 19 points in 21 minutes as the focal point of the Spurs' offense.
After taking a 19-17 lead in the first quarter, Orlando went cold, and the Spurs closed the period on a 16-6 run. The game unraveled form there, with Spurs' reserve guard trio of Mills, Manu Ginóbili, and Marco Belinelli pressuring the Magic's backcourt and punishing it with hot outside shooting. The Spurs built their lead to 25 at halftime--thanks in large part to a 27-0 edge in fastbreak points--and to 30 after three quarters.
Against San Antonio's white-flag lineup in the fourth quarter, Orlando made its run, trimming its deficit to 16 points on several occasions. The game's outcome was never in doubt.
Oladipo had an okay night from a scoring perspective, but struggled to run Orlando's offense against San Antonio's pressure, committing five turnovers against six assists; we should note that he compiled all of his turnovers before getting in the assist column, and there's something to be said for bouncing back from a rough start. Kyle O'Quinn, who started at center in relief of Nikola Vučević, proved a more effective facilitator: operating from the high post, as is his wont, O'Quinn finished with five assists and no turnovers.
Orlando managed to top the Detroit Pistons on Sunday despite the absences of Vučević and Jameer Nelson as well as Tobias Harris' early departure due to injury. Without those three on Tuesday, it was less lucky, even with Afflalo playing extended minutes.
The Magic's preseason ends Friday against the New Orleans Pelicans. The regular season tips off one week from Tuesday with a visit to the Indiana Pacers.