Magic 100, Warriors 110: Magic shooters go ice cold in 3rd quarter

The Magic have enjoyed a ton of early-season offensive success thus far in 2017. Just not on Monday night.

The Magic shot 42% from the field, and a chilly 31% from behind the arc, but were in the game at Oracle Arena until the beginning of the fourth quarter. A 19-point third quarter did the Magic in Monday night, as they fell to the Warriors 110-100.

San Jose native Aaron Gordon came out of the gate firing, hitting two of his first three three-point attempts. Coach Vogel burned a savvy timeout after the Warriors went on an 8-3 mid-first quarter run, and the Magic answered with a 6-0 run of their own fueled by an excellent defensive play by Nikola Vucevic. All-Star forward Kevin Durant blew by Evan Fournier, but Vucevic met Durant at the rim to break-up the play. He then proceeded to hit a jumper on the next possession at the other end, which led to a Golden State timeout. Vucevic led the Magic with nine first quarter points. Orlando got a lift from Bismack Biyombo, who contributed two first quarter blocks to close the period. Playing without Stephen Curry, the Warriors committed six first quarter turnovers.

Golden State opened up the second quarter on a 9-2 run to take an early lead, but it was short lived. In fact, the lead changed back-and-forth five times in the period. The Warriors gained some momentum in a sequence in which Durant blocked Gordon’s shot emphatically in a one-on-one situation on one end, then drilled a shot in his face at the other end. It seemed like the Warriors were going to pull away at that point, but the Magic regrouped and evened the score with the Warriors 56-56 at the half. Shaun Livingston had eight points in the second quarter to lead Golden State.

The Magic came out cold in the second half, missing seven of their first eight shots. Golden State opened up a ten point lead early in the third quarter. Orlando found a way to get to the free throw line consistently in the third, but only connected on five field goals in the quarter. The Warriors outscored the Magic 32-19 in the period, and took an 88-75 lead into the final quarter.

The Magic continued to be ice cold from the field to begin the fourth quarter. You just can’t go long stretches at a time without scoring if you want to beat the Warriors. Golden State stretched it’s lead following a Durant uncontested dunk and a Draymond Green three-pointer, and the rest was history (despite a late push by Orlando’s reserves).

Golden State was extremely balanced on the night with four starters scoring 15 points or more, led by Kevin Durant’s 21 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds, and Draymond Green’s 20 points.

Nikola Vucevic led the Magic with 20 points on the night (7-13 FG).

The Warriors extended their winning streak to seven games, and will now embark on a four-game road-trip.

For the Magic, it’s on to Portland Wednesday night to close out their four-game West Coast trip.