{"id":83302,"date":"2025-12-14T19:29:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T19:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/83302\/"},"modified":"2025-12-14T19:29:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T19:29:18","slug":"orlando-magic-head-home-before-hitting-road-again-after-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/83302\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando Magic head home before hitting road again after Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAS VEGAS \u2014 Trailing the Knicks<\/a> by 10 points three minutes into the third quarter of Saturday\u2019s NBA Cup<\/a> semifinal, Magic<\/a> coach Jamahl Mosley<\/a> called timeout.<\/p>\n

By the next stoppage roughly four minutes later, Orlando<\/a> had stormed back to take a 2-point lead and felt confident it had cracked the code against New York<\/a> by driving to the basket, forcing turnovers and hitting 3s in the second half under the bright lights of T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The only problem?<\/p>\n

The Knicks weren\u2019t rattled.<\/p>\n

New York called a timeout of its own, closed out the third quarter on a 15-5 run and didn\u2019t look back in its 132-120 victory over Orlando in front of a national TV audience on Amazon\u2019s Prime Network.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe fought. We battled,\u201d Mosley said after the 12-point loss that ended the Magic\u2019s Cup run. \u201cThat\u2019s what this team is going to continue to do. What happened with (the Knicks) is they made a couple timely shots. We missed a couple timely shots, a couple rebounds here and there for second-chance opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgain, those are the details of the game we\u2019re going to have to continue to look at,\u201d he added. \u201cGive New York a ton of credit for how they came out and played as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Orlando outscored New York 19-13 in second-chance points, the Magic left points on the board, especially in the third quarter. That frame, they shot 1 for 6 in second-chance opportunities to finish 8 for 16 overall.<\/p>\n

The Knicks were not only more efficient in second-chance scoring scenarios (3 for 5 for 13 points), but they also shot the ball better from the floor overall (61% vs. Orlando\u2019s 46%), from beyond the arc (35% vs. 31%) and at the free throw line (74% vs. 68%).<\/p>\n

Add in 93 points combined from OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson<\/a>, the latter of whom notched 40, the margin for error was small for the Magic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were too comfortable,\u201d Orlando guard Desmond Bane<\/a> said. \u201cWe had a stretch there in the third quarter where I felt like we picked up our defensive intensity and were able to get into the ball and make it uncomfortable for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut most of the night, just about everybody on the team was getting to the spots that they wanted to get to with little resistance from us,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Despite coming up short of their goal of capturing the Cup, the Magic still had plenty to gain from their experience in Vegas.<\/p>\n

And they didn\u2019t leave empty-handed when each player earned $106,187 for falling in the semifinals.<\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s not all about the money, either. No. 5 Orlando (15-11) saw firsthand just how challenging of an opponent the No. 2 Knicks (18-7) can be when they\u2019re rolling on both ends of the floor.<\/p>\n

While the Magic had defeated them twice earlier in the season, New York won the last two games in the past week to split regular-season series with Orlando.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a motivation,\u201d Magic center Wendell Carter Jr.<\/a> said in the locker room. \u201cWe look at it as a regular season but with the stakes involved in it, the money aspect of it, it was a great experience. After playing in the playoffs the last two years now, it kind of had a similar feel, but at the same time, it was something that could learn from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Bane: \u201cWe need these moments. We need these games where we\u2019re playing in meaningful games and have to go through some adversity. It will help prepare us for our next challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

Orlando\u2019s next challenge includes a trip back out west after returning home Sunday. The Magic open a four-game West Coast trip Thursday at Denver.<\/p>\n

Magic guard Jalen Suggs<\/a>, who exited Saturday because of a sore left hip, will be re-evaluated before the team hits the road again.<\/p>\n

Magic guard Jalen Suggs suffers hip injury: \u2018He laid it all on the line for us\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

The veteran voices in Orlando\u2019s locker room aren\u2019t worried about the team dropping a second straight game against New York and going 2-3 in its last five games.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think this is cause for like foreshadowing to the end,\u201d Magic forward Jonathan Isaac<\/a> said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to find a way to be more consistently us.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a great team, a lot of talented guys and we\u2019ve got to regroup and be ready for this West Coast trip.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Up next \u2026<\/p>\n

Magic at Nuggets<\/p>\n

When: 9 p.m., Thursday, Ball Arena<\/p>\n

TV: FanDuel Sports Network Florida<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAS VEGAS \u2014 Trailing the Knicks by 10 points three minutes into the third quarter of Saturday\u2019s NBA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83303,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[114,2295,139,141,1239,140,109,110],"class_list":["post-83302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-latest-headlines","tag-nba","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-magic","tag-orlando-news","tag-social","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}