Value of Magic’s Aaron Gordon Seen as Kawhi Leonard Slow Cooks Magic
That Spurs bench though!
The Spurs second unit outscored Magic’s 40-17, with 24 of the Spurs points coming from the tandem of Ginobili and Belinelli, who combined to hit six threes.
Orlando needed penetration from its backcourt to get at the Spurs bigs in foul trouble, but that never happened. Despite both Victor Oladipo and Tobias Harris attacking the rim, Tim Duncan and Boris Diaw were smart enough to stay out of foul trouble, staying straight up and not reaching.
Duncan had three but was never in foul trouble, while Leonard did not pick up a single personal foul; Diaw had just two.
The smart ‘D’ forced a lot of tough looks and Oladipo was just 5 of 21 from the field despite having a glut of missed looks in the paint. Harris was far more successful, hitting 9 of 13 while also grabbing 10 boards and dishing out six assists. He was the best player on the court for the Magic tonight, and he was also counted upon heavily on the glass with the Magic going small most of the game.
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The three guard rotation of Willie Green, Victor Oladipo and Elfrid Payton produced decent results, but the Spurs are just so good at swinging the ball that the open threes were bound to come. Even though the Magic shot 47 percent from three, the Spurs hoisted 32 and hit 14, four more than Orlando.
Next: The rebounding