While Wolves remained on six straight wins, Karl-Anthony Towns’ teammates fell on the Magic floor on Friday (118-110). However, Minnesota had taken the game by the right end thanks to Pat Beverley on fire at 3-pointers (15-7). Except that the Wolves leader takes a blow to the temple from Mo Bamba, and we will never see him again in the match… At first, the Wolves compensate quietly, even offering themselves a 10-point lead thanks to Malik Beasley (29 -19). The 3-pointers continue to rain, while the Magic does not put one away. The gap even reaches 14 points, and we think that the Wolves will spend a quiet evening.
Except that Karl-Anthony Towns took his 3rd foul, and we will not see him again in the first half. For 10 minutes, Minnesota is doing well thanks to Jaden McDaniels then Naz Reid and the gap even reaches 18 points. And then, Mo Bamba enters the scene. The pivot is unleashed at 3-points, and Orlando signs a 14-2 to pick up the score. Cole Anthony follows suit, and at the break, there are only five points left.
Back from the locker room, Karl-Anthony Towns is back, and the game turns into a 3-point contest. It’s very high level, and Minnesota takes off thanks to Anthony Edwards (82-70). Except that the Magic does not let go and Markelle Fultz sets fire to the floor and the room. Under his leadership, Orlando signs a 10-0 to finish the quarter, and take control (97-93).
Anthony Edwards stops the bleeding but Mo Wagner drives the point home, and the Magic break away (107-95). Straddling the two quarters, Orlando is on a 20-2! The Towns-Edwards duo combined well, and brought Wolves down to -1 three minutes from the end (109-108). But Mo Bamba has the last word to offer a superb victory to Orlando (118-110).
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– The release of Pat Beverley. After two failed matches, the leader was unleashed with 9 points in four minutes. But Mo Bamba’s elbow hits his ear, and we will never see him again in the game.
– The entry of Markelle Fultz. His playing time is still limited, but it’s the spark of the Orlando bench. In his atypical style and with this false slowness, he hurt Wolves a lot. It was he who tipped the match at the end of the 3rd quarter.
– A first since 2018. For the first time since Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon, two Magic insiders finish with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds. Wendell Carter Jr. and Mo Bamba profited heavily from Karl-Anthony Towns’ foul problems.
TOPS/FLOPS
✅Mo Bamba. Possibly his best career game with his 27 points and 12 rebounds with a superb 5 of 8 from 3-pointers. He doesn’t have Towns’ technique but he can do a lot of damage out wide. His complementarity with Carter gives Orlando a real defensive base.
✅Moe Wagner. Like Markelle Fultz, he changed the course of the game. 18 points in 13 minutes, when Wolves came back to score in the 4th quarter.
✅Anthony Edwards. We can see that he is embarrassed by his knee, but we discover his aggressiveness and his taste for combat. In the second half, he allowed his team not to flinch.
⛔D’Angelo Russell. A complicated evening for the leader of the Wolves, jostled by the aggressiveness of Cole Anthony then Markelle Fultz.
THE FOLLOWING
Orlando (18-50) : reception of the Sixers on Sunday
Minnesota (38-30) : complicated back-to-back on the Miami side
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