The Magic storm Atlanta in a game plagued by absences

The Magic took a surprising victory in their visit to State Farm Arena, or what would have been at least a surprising victory under normal conditions. In a match marked by numerous absences due to security protocols, the Orlando team beat the Hawks by 98-104, adding their seventh win of the season and thus managing to link two consecutive victories for the first time so far. course. The locals, for their part, saw their bad moment aggravated, and with this defeat they fell back out of the positions that give access to the play-in.

Without Trae Young, Clint Capela, Kevin Huerter and Danilo Gallinari among others, those of McMillan were supported almost exclusively by the excellent performances of Cam Reddish and John Collins, whose 34 and 28 points respectively made them shine but were not enough to overcome those from Florida. The forward managed to score 6 triples in his 10 attempts while the power forward signed a double-double by capturing 12 rebounds, but no other member of the team reached the double digits, making it impossible to count on the scoring volume necessary to win.

One of the men called to provide a solution in this regard was Lance Stephenson, who made his return to the NBA courts after more than two years away from the league. The shooting guard, who recently signed a 10-day contract with Atlanta, had up to 22 minutes to try to help the Georgia team reverse the situation, but was somewhat rusty and was unable to score a single field goal, although he managed to be effective thanks to his 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Nor could Bogdan Bogdanovic contribute too many points, who returned after missing the last eight games due to an ankle injury and did so with 6 points.

The Magic also faced the duel with numerous absences, some due to protocols, such as Terrence Ross or Mo Bamba among others, and others to physical problems such as Cole Anthony or Wendell Carter Jr. Those from Florida, however, managed better overcome the situation thanks to the step forward of several of his men, among whom Franz Wagner stood out more than anyone.

The rookie, who has already displayed his scoring skills on more than one occasion, led his team with 25 points, a figure he reached for the fourth time in his short career. The forward, however, wanted to influence the great contribution of the newly incorporated players to cover the absences due to Covid-19, whose contribution he especially valued.

“It is impressive that they can arrive with such confidence and energy,” he said in reference to men like Hassani Gravett, Admirald Schofield or Tim Frazier. “I think it must be very difficult for them, as they arrive without knowing the systems and without having time to adapt, so it is really surprising. To make matters worse, they are all great guys and have already created great chemistry. “

Among the newcomers, the biggest contributor was BJ Johnson, scoring 14 goals from the bench thanks to his 6/7 shooting. The power forward actually finished as the team’s third-leading scorer, behind only the aforementioned Wagner and Gary Harris, who added 17 points. For his part, Robin Lopez reached 10 points, and also managed to distribute 11 assists to set a new record in his career.

(Cover photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)

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