The Orlando Magic started out their Summer League state on the right foot after a hard-fought win against the Boston Celtics. In what was a rather close game the entire way through, the Magic ended up being victorious by a score of 95-88. Orlando will be back in action at 11 AM tomorrow morning against the Oklahoma City Thunder who were also victorious today.
The Positives
- Distribution of scoring: no one player was asked to carry the bulk for Orlando, and that’s how it should be when you have three players (Moe Harkless, Andrew Nicholson, Kyle O’Quinn) who played significant roles on the team last year. Victor Oladipo and Romero Osby led the charge with 18 each, Moe Harkless had 15, Doron Lamb had 13 and Kyle O’Quinn and Rodney McGruder both chipped in with 11.
- Victor Oladipo: Oladipo was everything he was hyped up to be today. Oladipo scored 18 points including hitting 2-3 three point attempts, he also dished out 7 assists, grabbed 6 boards and had 5 steals. Oladipo was arguably the best player on the floor in this game.
- Three Point Shooting: the Magic were 8-14 (57.1%) from downtown. Victor Oladipo was 2-3 from behind the arch, Doron Lamb was a perfect 3-3 and Rodney McGruder was 2-4. This played a huge role in Orlando’s win, as Boston heavily struggled from downtown after going 6-21.
- Rebounding: the Magic outrebounded the Celtics 34-27. Kyle O’Quinn had a game-high 11 rebounds and Moe Harkless chipped in with 8.
- Romero Osby: Romero Osby was definitely better than expected today. Osby tied for the team-lead in points with 18 and also had 5 rebounds. Osby was 7-8 from the floor and 4-5 from the charity stripe. After being the 51st overall pick in the 2013 Draft he showed he should have a great chance to make the Magic roster.
- Free Throws: the Magic took 35 shots from the charity stripe and knocked down a good portion of them (77.1%). This was also more than the Celtics who only shot 27 free throws.
- Forcing Turnovers: the Magic forced 23 turnovers.
The Negatives
- Turnovers: every summer league team always turns it over at an unusually high rate. Players are unfamiliar with each other, but still the Magic turned it over 22 times. That should drop with every game once the players begin to mesh.
- Victor Oladipo PG Experiment: the Magic said they were planning to give Victor Oladipo a shot to play PG for the summer league team. Overall, Oladipo had a great game but he showed he has a long way to go if he ever wants to be a starting PG in the NBA. Oladipo turned it over 6 times, more than any other player in the game.
- Andrew Nicholson: after a very solid rookie season in which he showed a ton of potential, Andrew Nicholson was pretty bad here in the first summer league game. He only shot 1-9 from the field and had 7 fouls.
Key Player Stats
- Victor Oladipo: 18pts, 7ast, 6reb, 5stl, 5-13 FGM-A, 2-3 3PM-A
- Romero Osby: 18pts, 5reb, 7-8 FGM-A
- Moe Harkless: 15pts, 8reb, 6-13 FGM-A, 1-3 3PM-A
- Kyle O’Quinn: 11pts, 11reb, 2ast, 3-6 FGM-A
- Doron Lamb: 13pts, 2ast, 4-7 FGM-A, 3-3 3PM-A
- Rodney McGruder: 11pts, 3-5 FGM-A, 2-4 3PM-A
- Andrew Nicholson: 7pts, 3reb, 1-9 FGM-A
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