Orlando Magic took a small step forward in their goal of reaching the playoffs directly, and during their visit to the Pelicans’ pavilion they took advantage of Zion Williamson’s physical problems to win 117 to 108.
Paolo Banchero led his team with 32 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal, marking the tenth time this season that he reached at least 30 points.
Along the way, he despaired of the Pelicans who ended up with three players ejected in the final seconds of the clash, such as Herb Jones, Trey Murphy III and Dyson Daniels.
In addition, there was the intermittency of Zion, suffering from some pain in a finger on his left hand after an attempted block on point guard Jalen Suggs.
“I had never seen this before,” Banchero acknowledged about those expelled. “I’m not going to say why all that happened, but I think our game frustrated them a little,” he added.
The young Orlando star finished with a 10/24 shooting from the field and an outstanding 10/13 from the line. For his part, German Franz Wagner added 24 points, and his brother Mo Wagner added 18 from the second unit.
«We have been as physical as we could. They hit you, they grab you, they hold you down… Which is fine with us. We accept physical play. Which is fine,” said Jamahl Mosley.
In the Pels, his greatest exponent was the veteran CJ McCollum with 36 points, 10 rebounds and four basket passes; Reserve Dyson Daniels added 16 points, and Zion, who could not finish the game due to his aforementioned physical problems, finished with 15 points, 5 assists and two steals.
“I know we have to be better and we will,” said Willie Green. “But right now we have to regroup, keep our heads up and continue pursuing our goal,” the coach concluded.
With their victory, the Magic are half a game ahead in 4th place in the East over the Knicks, and on the next day they will play at the Charlotte Hornets’ field.
For their part, the New Orleans Pelicans close a home tour of 6 consecutive games next Friday against the Wembanyama Spurs.
(Cover photo: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
2024-04-04 08:30:00
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