Playing for the first time since a disappointing showing on Friday night against the Detroit Pistons, the Orlando Magic returned to the Amway Center to hose the defending champion San Antonio Spurs. Playing the second night of a back-to-back, the Spurs looked fresher than the Magic, who had four days off, cruising to a 103-91 win.
Early on, the few days off appeared to give the Magic a little bit of a boost. The Magic got off to a good start, jumping out to a 10-7 lead, prompting a Spurs timeout. After the timeout, however, the Magic began to falter, with the Spurs settling in and finding open shots on many of their possessions. The host Magic were unable to get anything going on the offensive end, despite grabbing nine offensive rebounds in the quarter. San Antonio's swarming defense forced the Magic to take most of their shots from outside of the painted area, with the Magic shooing a putrid 4-of-14 when they got to the rim. Tobias Harris and Kawhi Leonard led the way for their respective teams with seven each after 12 minutes.
After finishing the first quarter shaky, the Magic continued to struggle against the well balanced Spurs. San antonio moved the ball, finding open shots on many of their possessions. They were able to push their lead to as many as 17, making it their 12th straight game holding a double digit lead. Orlando was able to continue to rebound the ball at a high rate, pushing their total to 29 for the game, including 13 on the offensive glass. Despite having many second chance opportunities, the Magic struggled, shooting 3-of-12 in the half. Aron Baynes' 12 led all scorers at halftime, with Harris' 10 leading the Magic.
Out of halftime, the Spurs continued to pile it on the hapless Magic. San Antonio spread the floor, and knocked down open three after open three, pushing their lead over the 20 point threshold for the game. San Antonio was able to keep the Magic off the offensive boards, not allowing the hosts to grab an offensive rebound in the quarter. The Magic's offense continued to struggle, with turnovers and poor shot attempts piling up on almost every possession. San Antonio's bench continued to do most of the damage, with Baynes leading the way with 14. Harris' 14 led the way for the Magic after 36 minutes.
With the game all but over, the Magic tried to put up a fight early in the quarter. A pair of three's from Luke Ridnour cut San Antonio's lead down to as few as 17 before the visitors pushed it back up to 25. All the Magic could do late was pad their stats and let the far superior Spurs run down the clock.
Five Spurs finished in double figures, led by Baynes' 18. Manu Ginobili added 13, with fellow shooting guard Marco Belinelli adding 12. Boris Diaw finished with 10, with Leonard finishing the night with 10, the only Spurs starter in double figures.
Victor Oladipo led four Magic men in double figures, finishing with 24. Harris finished the night with 18, with Nikola Vucevic adding 16 points and 11 rebounds. Elfrid Payton once again stuffed the stat sheet, finishing with 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
