Mavericks 101, Magic 76: Ugly night for Magic on and off the court

The Magic picked up right where they left off on Friday night and it resulted in one of their ugliest losses of the season.

When the Magic were routed last week by the Pacers at home, it was chalked up to fatigue considering they played three games in four nights after a West Coast trip. But against the Mavericks on Monday, the Magic were fresh from a weekend off, and they looked even worse in a 101-76 loss.

The Magic, playing without Evan Fournier, who missed the game due to personal reasons, shot just 36.4 percent from the field, including 8 of 28 from three, en route to a season low 76 points (eclipsing the 87 points they scored at Denver). The Magic got to the free throw line only five times, while the Mavericks connected on 21 of 25 attempts.

The Magic trailed wire-to-wire, with the deficit reaching as much as 28 in the fourth. Nikola Vucevic was held to single digits for the first time this season, as he scored all eight of his points in the first half and shot 4 of 15 from the field, his worst shooting night of the season.

Jonathon Simmons led the way with 18 points, making 7 of 10 shots. The only other member of the Magic in double figures was Aaron Gordon, who made only 4 of 15 shots and finished with 10 points.

The Magic points guard duo of D.J. Augustin and Jerian Grant combined for just nine points and six assists, and made only 4 of 13 shot attempts. As a team, the Magic had 18 assists and 15 turnovers for a dismal ratio.

Adding to the disaster of a game was that Mo Bamba didn’t play for violating team rules, earning the first “DNP - Coach’s Decision” of his young career.

More on that story to come.

Bamba’s fellow rookie Luka Doncic shined, nearly recording the first triple-double of his career in just 26 minutes because of the rout. He finished with seven points, and a career-best 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

Harrison Barnes had 19 points for the Mavs, who won by 25 despite shooting just 42.7 percent from the field.

The Magic suffered their third straight loss and fifth in seven games. They now head to Mexico City for their next two games.