Orlando Magic Grades: Sacramento Kings 94, Orlando Magic 88
The Orlando Magic never got their offensive footing under them as they were defeated by a struggling, but energetic Sacramento Kings team on the road.
The Orlando Magic lost to the Sacramento Kings 94-88 at the Golden 1 Center on Friday night. That scoreline says a lot about how the game went.
It was sloppy and lethargic with the Magic playing without their top two scorers in Evan Fournier and Aaron Gordon. it was frustrating and puzzling with the Kings getting whatever they wanted with very little resistance amid their own tank-tastic sloppiness.
But the Kings were the better team. They found scoring from Garrett Temple (again) after his big scoring effort in the win in Orlando in January. Vince Carter turned the clock back to his Orlando days at least with some timely 3-point shooting and drives.
The Magic never could find their footing offensively with a new lineup that had rarely played with each other. Too often the Magic were caught trying to do too much on their own or unable to break free within the offense. The team got stagnant on offense and bogged down in the half court.
The Magic shot just 42.3 percent from the floor and 9 for 29 from beyond the arc. The team scored a season-low 36 points in the first half. Sacramento was not doing a whole lot better. The Kings scored only 41 points in the first half too.
It was an ugly basketball game between two teams resting starters and maybe not so focused on winning. The Magic certainly played that way. The Kings did not. They were constantly first to the ball and trying to take advantage of the Magic’s mistakes.
They took a 16-point lead early in the third quarter. And Orlando, most dishearteningly, never made a run at the lead. They kept the deficit close that they could make a push, but they never were able to get over the hump. The offense just never got going. Orlando lacked a lot of fire they needed.
And so as Vince Carter, Garrett Temple and Jack Cooley, of all people, dominated the team on the inside. Their energy helped the Kings push past the Magic and blow the game open.
Orlando just never got things going in what was one of the team’s worst overall performances and worst offensive performances this year.
JONATHON SIMMONS. B+. <a href=. G/F. Orlando Magic
Orlando Magic. SHELVIN MACK. D. <a href=. PG
NIKOLA VUCEVIC. C-. <a href=. C. Orlando Magic
SACRAMENTO KINGS. B. Let’s get it all straight… the Sacramento Kings are not a good team either. The Orlando Magic and Sacramento Kings are on the same level at the Lottery for a reason. They are both bad teams that have not met expectations for various reasons.<p>Where the Magic looked like a team that understood this and was playing out the string, the Kings looked like a team that was still fighting for something. Sacramento was still not good. Not by any stretch. The team was sloppy and could not hit shots either. But the Kings played with a bit more urgency and efficiency. They played better together.</p><p>Maybe the injuries are to blame for that with the Magic. Orlando was throwing out a lot of strange lineups and players who are not used to playing with each other. But the Magic still lacked any kind of basic cohesion. That was not necessarily because the Kings did anything. But they did enough to win comfortably.</p>. 21-45. 12th West
Next: Five questions for the Orlando Magic's fourth quarter
The Orlando Magic are back in action Saturday night in Los Angeles against the LA Clippers.