Forty-eight hours after having taken a spanking in front of these same Knicks, the environment of the Garden does not frighten the young people of the Magic in this beginning of match. First twelve minutes when the defenses are not there. Julius Randle, well liked by his teammates in every action, shines with his talent. Too strong and too powerful for the Magic, “Big Julius” has fun. But he’s lonely, and New York is purring. The fault of Cole Anthony’s 15 points which allows the Magic to lead (29-27).
Guided by Derrick Rose, the Knicks play better and inflict a 20 to 5 to the Floridians. The whole room is standing to applaud the shots of Alec Burks or the rage of Mitchell Robinson in the racket (47-34), except that the son of Greg Anthony is transformed by the atmosphere, and the Magic remains in ambush at the break (57-52).
Helped by his young teammates (Mo Bamba and Jalen Suggs), Cole Anthony hurts Kemba Walker who is struggling to stop him, and New York has no choice but to insist on Julius Randle. Twelve minutes from the end, New York remains ahead (80-74). But they will suddenly crack, trapped by a burning Terrence Ross. The Magic sign a 12-0 to take control, and the collective game of the Knicks disappears. Opposite, Ross continued his 4th act of madness, and the Magic won their first victory of the season (110-104).
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
Orlando second half. Led to the break, the Magic delivered twenty-four quality minutes. Worn by Cole Anthony, the Floridians have shown great things collectively. Serious defensively, they take pleasure in sharing the ball in attack. The 12-0 to start the 4th act will have been decisive for the Magic. Tonight, they won as a team.
Youth in power. Orlando has the youngest major five in the NBA. And tonight on the floor of the mythical Madison Square Garden, the young guard of the Magic was not shy. Cole Anthony, Mo Bamba and Jalen Suggs have answered the call from both sides of the pitch. It’s not easy to fight against the power of Juliu sRandle or the speed of Derrick Rose, but they never gave up. A great victory which should give confidence to this rebuilding team.
The average defense of Tom Thibodeau’s men. By dint of having fun in attack in the first two games, the Knicks forgot to defend. Tonight, the Knicks did not know how to harden their defense in the “money time”. New York has never chained the stops despite the presence of the rebounds of Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson. Cole Anthony’s speed on his drives and Terrence Ross’ ballless play hurt the Knicks.
THE TURN OF THE MATCH
Start of the 4th quarter. Orlando is 6 points behind. Under the leadership of Terrence Ross, the Magic inflict a 12-0 in New York. Despite the encouragement of Madison Square Garden, the Knicks crack. Note Moritz Wagner’s magnificent dunk on Obi Toppin to conclude the “run”. A high class action that allows Orlando to rush to victory.
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Cole Anthony. He has the keys to the truck and he’s not shy. Greg’s son knows he can do great things on the basketball court, and the former North Carolina point guard has been outstanding tonight. Present in the scoring, he came to help his teammates in the rebounds. Very quick on his first step, he also knows how to take long shots, which makes him difficult to defend when he is on fire. 29 points, 8 assists and 16 rebounds (!) For the Orlando magician.
✅ Terrence Ross. He’s the survivor of the rebuild, and Terrence Ross guided Orlando’s young guard in the final 12 minutes. The former Raptors is capable of catching fire at any point in a game. Mute during the first three quarters, he scores 22 of his team’s 34 points in the last act. Baskets of which he alone has the secret. His teammates have found it on forms of play made for him.
✅ Julius Randle. The All-Star interior has yet shown that he is the best player on this team. Too powerful for his counterparts, he has been in the oven and in the mill. 30 points and 16 rebounds for him. His 2/10 at 3 points tarnishes his performance. But Julius Randle was once again great… but too alone to win this match.
⛔ Evan Fournier. He quickly became so important in the Knicks game that when he misses his games, it becomes difficult for his team to win. Author of two very good matches, the Frenchman was not clever tonight. However, he had made a good start to the match through his scoring but also in creation, but he has the image of his team, he has gradually slackened in pace. A match to forget.
THE FOLLOWING
Orlando : back-to-back for Orlando heading to Miami tonight.
New York : The Knicks will try to revive Tuesday with the reception of the Sixers of Joel Embiid.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
–
