On Saturday night, the New York Knicks and Orlando Magic set an NBA record by combining to score 15 points, an all-time low for a single quarter.
8-7.
The record of a football team heading into the last week of the season.
The score of a set in tennis that goes to tie-breakers.
The score of the New York Knicks (8) versus Orlando Magic (7) in the second quarter.
Two lottery sweethearts locked horns in Orlando on Saturday night with seeding in the upcoming draft on the line. The Magic have a great look at a pick in the top six spots in the upcoming draft while the Knicks need to turn up the “suck” juuuust a little more to make sure they put themselves at the top of the pile for that No. 1 overall spot.
While great basketball isn’t to be expected, certainly, there was no reason to assume that these two teams were going to make history by scoring just 15 combined points for an entire NBA quarter. They did it! An already historic season for the Knicks continues to find its way into the record books for the wrong reasons.
Oh yeah, did I mentioned it was FAN APPRECIATION NIGHT in Orlando? Yes, the Knicks and Magic played with the kind of vim and vigor that really shows how much the front offices, coaches and to some lesser extent, players appreciate the fans who keep shelling out money and time to watch these two teams night after night.
The good – no, great – news for both teams: They are going to get better. The Magic will probably get better in the right ways; no accounting for what Dolan, Phil and D-Fish might do with the Knicks and their soon-to-be top lottery pick. Elfrid Payton, Nikola Vucevic, Victor Oladipo, Aaron Gordon and a high pick in the draft with little in the way of salary commitments is a good look for Orlando.
No matter what the future holds, tonight was a historic failure and we at The Lottery Mafia went back to watch it so that you don’t have to.
At the end of the first quarter, the score was 30-24 in favor of the visiting New York Knicks. Not one of the under-appreciated fans in attendance could have imagined what was about to happen next.
First, Nikola Vucevic missed a jumper, then Quincy Acy missed a jumper. Not a bad start; big guys taking long two-pointers is not a good look. Then Oladipo throws it away. Then Lou Amundson takes a long jumper that misses, followed by an Oladipo long two-point shot that misses. That’s four consecutive long two-point shots to start the quarter. A picture is being painted, things are becoming clear.
Score! Shane Larkin rolls off a screen and cuts into the lane for an easy layup.
Knicks up 2-0 early in the quarter.
The Magic try the same thing on the next trip down, but miss. Cleanthony Early chucks up a brick of a three-pointer, and Oladipo returns the favor with an equally ugly thud off of the front-rim. A messy scramble for the ball and TIMEOUT! Let’s hope the teams take advantage of this timeout to regroup.
Out of the timeout, Payton is shown chilling on the bench. Langston Galloway resumes the long-range two-point contest and bricks it. Vucevic then misses off the glass out of a late double team in on the low post. In this game of Futility Horse, Amundson comes right back into the low post against Vucevic and draws the shooting foul. Amundson goes 2-for-2 at the line.
Knicks up 4-0 in the quarter.
Tobias Harris has a good look and gets rejected by Amundson, who then approximately shoots/throws the ball off of the glass on a roll to the rim. Double-double nightmare Cole Aldrich checks back in for the Knicks. And a Magic turnover as the ball is thrown out-of-bounds to no one in particular. Shane Larkin bricks another three, but then forces another Magic turnover, and then Larkin bricks a long two! It’s going great!
Willie Green joins the party! Another bricked three-pointer. Aldrich commits a turnover, Andrew Nicholson bricks a three-pointer for the Magic, offensive rebound by Vucevic and another turnover by Oladipo!
Fans still in attendance, but feeling appreciated?
Aldrich backs it down and misses a two from inside. Harris commits an offensive foul going the other way, another turnover for the Magic. The Knicks storm down the court with purpose, and Jason Smith finds the hot hand, hitting a long two-point shot. Magic announcer points out that the Magic are not giving themselves much of a chance in the third quarter. What does he know that we don’t?
Knicks up 6-0 in the quarter. Magic have scored zero points in six minutes of second quarter play.
On the return from the commercial break, they interview a fan and highlight the perk of a lounge where you can go during the Magic home games to watch other games. FAN APPRECIATION.
Vucevic gets the game back on track for history by missing a long two out of the post. Jason Smith, feeling his hot hand earlier, takes a long baseline jumper and bricks it. The Knicks grab the offensive rebound and get it back to Hot Hands Smith who throws the ball to a Magic player; Vucevic commits an offensive foul!
We are over seven minutes into the quarter, zero points for the Magic.
Tim Hardaway launches a three-pointer and bricks it. Magic storm back down and have a shot massively rejected by Aldrich. Payton then drives and misses a layup, but Dewayne Dedmon with the put back jam BOOKSHAKALAKA! FAN APPRECIATION!
Knicks lead the quarter 6-2. Orlando needed 7:43 of time in the second quarter to get their first basket.
Dedmon feels bad about what happened so he gambles for a steal, misses and Aldrich takes advantage with an uncontested slam dunk.
Knicks lead extends to 8-2 in the second quarter.
The Magic then attack the basket and get rejected by Jason Smith, off a Magic player, Knicks ball. A missed shot by Aldrich, but Hardaway’s follow is rejected by Dedmon. Payton dribbles into the post, misses a hook shot of sorts from just outside the protected area, Hardaway fires away for the Knicks, another brick. A big three-point attempt for Aaron Gordon of the Magic – a big miss.
Out of a timeout, Aldrich misses and Smith misses a putback for the Knicks. The Magic bring it down the floor and miss again, a jumper from Dedmon. A scramble leads to a dead ball. Out of the inbound, Dedmon commits the offensive foul – another Magic turnover.
Galloway then bricks a floater over an on-rushing Knicks big man, the Magic head down the court and Harris draws the foul, going 1-for-2 at the line.
8-3 Knicks.
Off of the miss, offensive rebound for the Magic! Oladipo resets the offense, drives and flips it off the glass over a defender for two! The Magic have their second field goal make of the quarter after 11 minutes.
8-5 Knicks.
The Knicks feel their lead slipping so Larkin decides to push it into the lane and gets rejected by Payton off the glass; the Magic push up court and Oladipo opts for the crossover Euro step to finish for another two points!
Knicks 8-7!
The Knicks bring it up court, get some good rotation, and then Hardaway launches another three-point attempt that misses. The Magic hold for the final shot of the half, and the ball goes out of play. On the inbound, Oladipo turns baseline, drives to the hoop and flips up a floater that may, or may not, have been deflected.
There you have it: the end of National Basketball Association’s lowest-scoring quarter of play in its history. Congratulations to the Magic for showing true appreciation of their fans by treating them to some historic basketball.
Oh, and the Knicks? They won the game 80-79, evening themselves in wins for the season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, decreasing the odds that they secure the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming 2015 NBA draft.
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