In case you forgot who Ryan Anderson is, well, remember. Ryan Anderson poured in 22 points including 14 points to end the thirdquarter to put this game on ice for the New Orleans Pelicans. Oh and this just in, Anthony Davis is a thing and you should hop on that train because it’s a joy. Davis had a ho hum game, he tallied 26 points, 17 rebounds and nine blocks (HE’S A MONSTER). The top performers for the Magic Men were Center Nikola Vucevic who went for 15 points, 23 rebounds , four blocks and Tobias Harris who scored 25 points and added eight rebounds.
Orlando led the game after one thanks to Vucevic’s play (10 points, seven boards ). The Pelicans also did themselves no favors by shooting 3-11 in the first from the free throw line. For the Magic to keep up in this game you could tell that they were going to need to step up their level of play because it seemed unlikely the Pelicans could replicate the same kind of futility they displayed in the first.
True to that thinking the Pelicans completely battered the Magic in the second quarter on the boards thanks in large part to the trio of Anderson, Davis, and Omer Asik. The Pelicans also turned up their defensive intensity in the 2nd forcing six turnovers and holding Orlando to only 5-18 from the floor. New Orleans headed to the locker room with a 48-41 lead.
The Magic came out fired up and even took the lead early in the third behind Harris, however that was short lived thanks to Anderson’s aforementioned eruption at the end of the quarter. From that point on it was all Pelicans, as Orlando could never rally back to within striking distance.
Rookie Watch:
Aaron Gordon: If you look at the box score you’d come away with the impression that Aaron Gordon played fairly well, I wouldn’t exactly call that the case. Gordon accrued quite a few of his stats in garbage time and was lost defensively multiple times. I don’t think it’s fair to criticize Gordon after one game but Jacque Vaughn needs to do a better job of putting Gordon in a position to succeed moving forward. On a bright note Gordon did connect on his first three point attempt of his career, although his next three point attempt was an air ball.
Elfrid Payton: Payton got his first NBA start tonight and played ok. Defensively he did a great job of keeping Jrue Holiday contained most of the night. On the offensive end Payton was as advertised, he’s a great shot creator for teammates but his lack of a jumper really hurt the teams spacing. Payton attempted one jump shot and missed it tonight. Another mark on Elfrid Payton tonight was that there were a few times where he had an open shot but opted to pass instead. Payton is going to have to be a little more selfish in those situations.
Other Notes:
- Maurice Harkless and Andrew Nicholson were the only guys to tally DNP-CD.
- Orlando’s starting lineup was as follows, PG: Elfrid Payton, SG: Evan Fournier, SF: Tobias Harris, PF: Kyle O’Quinn, C: Nikola Vucevic.
- Willie Green played today, before blowout time. What’s up with that?
- When Ben Gordon is on the court you may want to have your alcohol ready.
- The Magic still appear to be switching on all of their defensive assignments, it wasn’t very effective, Orlando Point Guards ended up on New Orleans bigs way too often and New Orleans took notice.
- Your next Magic game is Thursday’s home opener against the Wizards at 7:00 PM ET.