The Orlando Magic could not overcome a slow start to the Minnesota Timberwolves, losing 115-93 inside Kia Center on Friday night.
As a result, the Magic ended their first homestand 0-2, losing their first two games by a combined 29 points. What were a few takeaways from the night? Let's examine!
Magic gets dominated in the possession battle:
Beyond the Magic's struggles offensively, which we will discuss shortly, the Timberwolves absolutely demolished them in the possession battle.
From the opening tip, Minnesota did an excellent job crashing the offensive glass relentlessly while limiting the Magic to just one shot. Minnesota took 14 more attempts and finished a plus-four in the turnover battle, a plus-11 in second-chance points and a plus-nine in fastbreak points.
The Magic had an extremely erratic start and never quite rebounded (no pun intended). Minnesota won practically every 50-50 ball for the first three quarters, when the game was within reach, and were the way more physical team.
The common denomenator stays common:
Shooting.
Shooting.
Shooting!!!!
That's all we've heard about the Orlando Magic's struggles offensively over the last 15-20 years. And those concerns remain valid.
Through three quarters, the Magic were shooting just 18.8 percent from 3-point range (6-32), finishing just 8-of-39 from distance compared to Minnesota's 14-of-37 (37.5).
Hopefully, nights like these over the course of the season are few and far between. But the Magic could not buy an open 3-point shot for most of the night. Desmond Bane's struggles to start the season bled into Friday, shooting 1-for-9; Tristan da Silva shot 1-of-7 from deep; Jalen Suggs went 1-of-4 while Jamal Cain and Franz Wagner combined to shoot 1-of-10.
Magic led a wasted opportunity slip:
It's not very often that you win by 22 points when your best player shoots just 5-of-23 from the field.
Anthony Edwards became the third player in NBA History to score 40-plus points in a second season opening game this week, pouring on 45 points on national television against the Miami Heat.
However, the two-time All-NBA honoree and four-time All-Star struggled. Orlando gave him little airspace; if he touched the paint, he saw a crowd of bodies in every direction. But he was picked up by the likes of Jaden McDaniels, Ayo Dosunmu, Jonathan Kuminga, Joan Beringer and Rudy Gobert.
The Magic are going to want this one back. If this game was played 10 times, they would win at least 7-8 if it guaranteed a night where Edwards missed 18 shots.
Alas, that's why games aren't played on a spreadsheet, though. Orlando hits the road and hopes to pick up its first win of the season Sunday against the defending champion New York Knicks inside Madison Square Garden.
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