Orlando Magic Grades: Chicago Bulls 112, Orlando Magic 94
The Orlando Magic fell behind early and never truly recovered. Their defense abandoned them and they fell in a blowout to the Chicago Bulls.
On the Orlando Magic’s first offensive possession, the team ran through their two best players. Nikola Vucevic got the ball at the elbow and Jonathon Simmons flared out toward the corner. Nikola Vucevic tried to loop the ball over to him. But Jonathon Simmons lost control of the ball and it trickled out of bounds.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Bulls kept scoring. Contested shots? Sure. But the bigger problems were the way Denzel Valentine and Kris Dunn and Jerian Grant darting through the lane. Chicago took a 12-0 lead off the bat. Orlando was climbing uphill.
And the bigger problem? Those came at the end of the first and second quarters.
At the end of the first quarter, after the Magic had cut the deficit to one, they began to unravel. A 3-pointer from Bobby Portis followed by a three-point play as the buzzer sounded from Kris Dunn after poor defense from D.J. Augustin, a late rotation from Jonathan Isaac and a late charge attempt from Shelvin Mack. It was a 6-0 run that put the game seemingly out of reach.
Another quick run to end the second quarter showed just how much the Magic had unraveled. Even the little bit of momentum the team had built to keep the game close in the second quarter was undone with a series of poor offensive possessions, turnovers and poor transition defense.
Chicago had its way against Orlando in a 112-94 win at United Center on Wednesday. The Magic had no answers and no fight, taking another devastating defeat.
Orlando is still struggling with injuries and it is no surprise the offense continues to flounder. The Magic finished the game shooting 39.3 percent. They hit on just 5 for 27 on 3-pointers, with D.J. Augustin hitting three. It was not a good offensive performance at all, with the team often trying to force the ball through Nikola Vucevic, Jonathon Simmons or Elfrid Payton.
And the Magic’s defense opened up consistently. Orlando was unable to get stops consistently. The Bulls shot 50.0 percent from the floor. And, reminiscent to last year’s penultimate game in that same building, Orlando seemed to lose its fight, allowing the deficit to grow too big.
C+. The Orlando Magic want to run things through Nikola Vucevic. They know how good he is playing right now and they just need to ride their best player until he gives out. As much as anything, they know they can trust him. He will make the right play and pass the ball. He is rarely selfish.<p>Vucevic though had his moments of trying to force things too much. The Magic kind of went out of their way to get him the ball. It disrupted some of the team’s normal offensive flow. And it hurt them early on. Vucevic still finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, albeit shooting 8 for 21.</p><p>Defensively Vucevic was solid rotating over. But he had little help, either from the defense in front of him or on help from the back side. Maybe he still could have done a bit more, but it is hard to ask much more from Vucevic other than efficiency and to keep things running smoothly. That is hard to do with this lineup right now.</p>. C. Orlando Magic. NIKOLA VUCEVIC
D. Like Nikola Vucevic, the Orlando Magic have found themselves relying more and more on Jonathon Simmons to create off the dribble and be a primary scorer for the team. That is a green light Simmons certainly welcomes. That is what he is good at. Or at least what he is supposed to be good at. The Magic have learned Simmons is not the most consistent driver or shooter. A big reason why he is coming off the bench.<p>Still, the Magic have to rely on him with all the injuries. And in order to compete, they will need him to play at a high level to have a chance each night. Nights like Wednesday are not going to get the job done for Simmons or the Magic. He scored six points on 2-for-9 shooting. His inability to run the offense effectively hurt Orlando throughout the game.</p><p>Defensively, Simmons was not great either. He gave up drives and was unable to provide the weakside help the team needed. It was part of a poor effort all around from the Magic’s perimeter defenders. The Magic turned to Simmons and Simmons failed to provide.</p>. G/F. Orlando Magic. JONATHON SIMMONS
C. There was a glimpse of <a href=. PG. Orlando Magic. ELFRID PAYTON
ADREIAN PAYNE. A. The Orlando Magic found themselves down by more than 25 points in the fourth quarter and gave their players ample amount of garbage time. It was the first extended time for <a href=. PF. Orlando Magic
A. The Chicago Bulls are rolling. Their confidence is evident and they are playing completely together. There is not a lot more to say. They saw a wounded team in the Orlando Magic and they pounced with a constant attack. The Magic were unable to keep the Bulls in front of them and unable to stop them.<p>Chicago had a balanced scoring attack. Denzel Valentine led six players in double figures with just 16 points. The Bulls scored 54 points off the bench. It was just a constant stream. And Chicago found every mismatch and attacked every hole. And there were plenty as Orlando did not provide a lot of energy defensively.</p><p>This was a better team — and yes, the Chicago Bulls are a better team right now — defeating a weaker team. Plain and simple. The Bulls have won seven straight and have tied the Magic in the standings.</p>. 10-20. 14th East. CHICAGO BULLS
Next: Orlando Magic Playbook: The Power of Switching
The Orlando Magic will lick their wounds and get back at it against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday at the Amway Center.