ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Magic are still searching for their first win of the season after getting blown out at home in a 115-93 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night inside the Kia Center.
The Magic made concerted efforts to improve their defense after allowing 132 points against the Atlanta Hawks in the opener, but they couldn't figure out how to bring that offense from night one over to their second game of the season.
Here's a look at the winners and losers from the game:
Winner: Team Defense
After their rough performance in the opener, this should be the silver lining in this game. The Magic struggled a lot on defense against the Hawks, but they held the Wolves to xx percent shooting.
No player scored more than xx points and Anthony Edwards was held to xx points on x of x shooting.
Improvements can be made, but it was definitely a step in the right direction compared to the sense of effort before.
Loser: Desmond Bane
It was a really difficult night for Bane, who made just 2 of 11 shots from the field, including 1 of 9 from downtown. Bane has been given the green light by the coaching staff to take as many open looks as he can from the perimeter, but those shots simply weren't falling against the Wolves.
Orlando relies heavily on Bane to set the tone and space the floor, but if he isn't making these shots at a good enough rate, the Magic aren't going to win very many games.
Loser: Tristan da Silva
Much like Bane, da Silva has been one of the team's top perimeter scorers, but that did not happen tonight. He made just 2 of 9 from the floor, including 1 of 7 from the three-point line.
This is the first poor shooting performance of the year for da Silva, including preseason, so it will be interesting to see if this becomes a bad pattern or not.
Loser: Franz Wagner
Wagner is the straw that stirs the drink for the Magic, along with Paolo Banchero, but he struggled against the Wolves' defensive alignment, which was headlined by Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert in the frontcourt.
Without having the lane open, Wagner struggled to generate a ton of offense, which led to the team's struggles. He finished the game with 18 points on 7 of 14 shooting, but also had six turnovers to lead Orlando.
The Magic will return to the court on Sunday night for their first road game of the season as they take on the defending champion New York Knicks. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 pm ET inside Madison Square Garden. Fans can watch the game on Magic TV 27 or stream it on NBA League Pass.
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