Image courtesy of Michael Tipton/Flickr
The Orlando Magic entered the final game of the preseason facing an old nemisis in Dirk Norwitzki and a former player in Jameer Nelson who now starts for the Dallas Mavericks.
The first quarter left a lot to be desired as the Magic got off to a slow start, allowing the Mavs to jump out to a 12-4 lead early on before Nikola Vucevic put together a couple of nice scoring plays to cut the deficit down to 6. Luke Ridnour made a jumper to bring it within 4, Tobias brought it within 2 with a couple of free-throw attempts, followed by another basket by Vooch to tie the game at 14. The two teams would go on to trade baskets and the Magic would lead 27-25.
The Magic would push their lead up to 6 during the early going of the second quarter. However, sloppiness began to plague the home team as they coughed up the lead thanks to strong play by Dirk Norwitzki, who seemed like he couldn’t miss a shot all half. With contributions from Jameer Nelson, Al Farouq Aminu and Chandler Parsons, the Mavs would go on a 27-10 run to lead the Magic 57-46
More of the same would happen in the 3rd as the Mavs would continue to take advantage of the sloppy ball play by the Magic. With Dirk being done for the night, the onus fell on the new guy in Chandler Parsons and he delivered. Parsons and Monta Ellis did anything they wanted to the Magic in the paint as their lead ballooned to 86-66.
It was all too late by the fourth quarter as the game was already out of reach for any comeback. The Mavs would go on to smother the Magic defensively to a 117-92 victory and end their preseason at a 4-4 mark.
Tobias Harris led all Magic scorers with 14 points. Followed by Kyle O’Quinn and Evan Fournier who had 12, and Nik Vucevic who had another double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Chandler Parsons led all scorers with 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Dirk Norwitzki had 16 points, followed by Al Farouq Aminu with 13, and Monta Ellis who finished with 11. Jameer Nelson in his first game against the Magic had 4 points, 7 assists, and 4 rebounds.
The Magic open the regular season against Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans.
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