The Magic did not lose everything on Wednesday in Los Angeles. At the Intuit Dome, the enchanted period and the six consecutive victories ended with the Clippers, winners 104-93. But still in the absence of Paolo Banchero, the Orlando franchise was able to find solutions to compensate for the lack of its star. The last of these good finds is called Anthony Blackauthors of his two best career matches in quick succession.
In Los Angeles, he once again served as a sixth man, even accumulating more playing time than Jalen Suggs, starting at position 1. The Magic needed an offensive spark and found it with their sophomore, better scorer for his team with 17 points in 29 minutes.
Still sometimes quite crude, Anthony Black is nevertheless making real progress in creation, one of the sectors in which Orlando lacks density. The 20-year-old confused speed and haste in the first period (four of his six lost balls) against the Clippers before rectifying the situation after returning from the locker room. And above all he was able to compensate for it with eight assists, two days after breaking his career record with nine against the Suns, in addition to his 20 points.
“ I'm growing up step by step“, explained Anthony Black at a press conference. “ The coaches trust me to have the ball in my hands, so I definitely need to do a better job of taking care of it. But it’s always a continuous learning process. We'll watch it all on video, and we'll go from there. »
From the end of the bench to the first outside rotation
Anthony Black will also be able to note his mediocre 5/9 on free throws, in a difficult shooting evening for the visitors, authors of a small 8/35 behind the arc. “ A lot of our shots are from good positions. We must continue to take them, and trust in our work. They will eventually fall in, it's basketball. Sometimes you hit your shots, sometimes you don't. But we must continue to look for the right shots, and attempt them with confidence. »
Despite these few small slags, Anthony Black did good for the Magic. It is he who almost alone maintains hope in the third quarter while his team takes water, with two 3-point shots in quick succession, then a superb pass for Mo Wagner, and a free throw , all in just one minute. From -19, Orlando returned to -10, without ultimately managing to reverse the course of the match.
“ He continues to grow, in his ability to play aggressively, and with the right aggression » appreciated his coach Jamahl Mosley. “ He did very good things tonight, he was present in defense on the passing lines. He continues to find his place in his own way. »
While we could be concerned about Orlando's lack of recruiting at the front during the offseason, the rise of Anthony Black could well help the Magic reach a new milestone.
Because if the former Arkansas player had started 33 times in the starting five last season, he had mostly finished the exercise at the back of the rotation of his coach, Jamahl Mosley. Who potentially has a new weapon in his arsenal, before a new tough match on the West Coast, against the Lakers this night.
