The Orlando Magic dominated from start to finish, finding everything working on offense and a tough defense to move to 2-0 inside the campus.
From the tip, the Orlando Magic had absolutely everything going on Sunday against the Sacramento Kings.
It started with a first quarter in which the Magic tied a franchise record for points in a period with 44. Aaron Gordon set the tone early by attacking the basket at will. Terrence Ross made open 3-pointers,. And Markelle Fultz made each and every one of his four mid-range jump shots in the quarter.
Markelle Fultz capped the quarter off in style with a miraculous shot from three-quarters court that swished in to give the Magic a 44-26 advantage.
From there, they would not even come close to relinquishing the lead. Both the starters and the second unit were in dominant form against the Kings, who were completely stymied by the Magic defense and were held without a fastbreak point through the first three quarters.
The Magic coasted to a 132-116 win, the final deficit only made close by a full quarter’s worth of garbage time for the second straight game in the seeding round.
De’Aaron Fox, the Kings’ primary threat offensively, was held to just 13 points thanks to the work of Michael Carter-Williams and the other Magic point guards. They did a great job of staying in front and, since the Magic were able to shoot 60 percent for most of the game, finishing at 52 percent, the Kings were not able to get out in transition. That cut off a big part of the Kings’ offense.
It was an efficient and proficient night for the Magic offense, who have now scored 120 points in five straight games for the first time in franchise history.
For a team that was not supposed to be regarded for its offense, the team’s ability to score the ball has been prolific dating back before the hiatus due to the aggressiveness of Aaron Gordon on this night, Evan Fournier’s ability to shoot on other nights, Terrence Ross’ hot shooting and Nikola Vucevic’s consistency pretty much every night.
Nikola Vucevic had a fantastic opening to the second half, as he scored 12 points in the period and finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds with a couple made threes as the Magic put their foot down and prevented any kind of run from the Kings.
However, on a night with so many positives, the Magic did have to deal with a scary moment as Jonathan Isaac reaggravated his injury to his left knee in the fourth quarter. Isaac was carted off the court in a wheelchair after his knee buckled on a step-through move through the lane. Isaac and his teammates were visibly shaken as he left the floor.
Coach Steve Clifford said after the game that he is hopeful it is not as bad as it looked, but nobody will know until he is examined further.
It put a pall on an otherwise celebratory night for a team rolling early on this season.
The Magic are now on a season-high five-game win streak and are 32-35 this season. They lead the Brooklyn Nets by one-half game for the seventh-seed in the Eastern Conference. The Orlando Magic will clinch a playoff spot with three wins or three Washington Wizards losses.