Orlando Magic Grades: Oklahoma City Thunder 104 Orlando Magic 97
By Zach Palmer
A couple Magic bench players grade out well after Orlando’s defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
149. Final. 97. 38. 104
The Magic defense found a little life behind a pair of bench players while a pair of Thunder guards absolutely killed the Magic.
B+. <p class=. G. Orlando Magic. WILLIE GREEN
A-. <p>Kyle absolutely changed the tone of the game when he was in the game tonight.</p><p>With Nikola Vucevic in foul trouble Kyle managed 22 minutes of playing time and he filled up the stat sheet. He finished with 11 points, eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block.</p><p>The thing is the box score does not do Kyle justice tonight. When Kyle entered the game, the Magic pick and roll defense was actually respectable and it gave the Magic some confidence that they have been missing recently.</p><p>I am not naive enough to think Kyle is going to take minutes from Nikola Vucevic but he really might deserve it.</p>. F/C. Orlando Magic. KYLE O'QUINN
Orlando Magic. NIKOLA VUCEVIC. D. <p>Plain and simply put tonight, Nikola Vucevic was the antithesis of Kyle O’Quinn. Where O’Quinn busted his butt to make plays and played great defense, Vucevic did not.</p><p>Vucevic managed to put up 20 points in his limited playing time, but once again they were empty numbers. If Vucevic is really a franchise player his stats need to contribute to a win and all too often with him that is not the case.</p><p>Most disturbing of all was Vucevic’s final foul that DQ’d him. Serge Ibaka beat him off the dribble badly and Vuc just slapped him. Vucevic had to have known he had five fouls. I would say more than half the time, even when he is not in foul trouble Vuc just lets his guy go.</p><p>Not this time. Vucevic wanted out of this game. When all is said and done this may be due to Jacque Vaughn being a lame-duck coach but that is not the attitude you want to see out of your players.</p>. C
OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER. A-. <p>Watching Russell Westbrook tonight was a pure joy. You really cannot get a feel for his explosiveness until you see him split the pick and roll. Westbrook was all over the place tonight with his seemingly unending supply of energy and recorded a triple-double.</p><p>With no Kevin Durant available tonight, Dion Waiters got the start and true to his reputation as a Magic killer he killed the Magic tonight. Waiters shot an incredibly efficient 9 for 15 while finishing with 24 points.</p><p>The Thunder never really seemed in any trouble tonight even when the Magic pulled within single digits in the fourth quarter. You always felt like Westbrook was going to answer the call tonight and he did. </p>. Team. OKC