- Home
- Magic Complete 21-Point Comeback to Defeat Nets, 102-101
Magic Complete 21-Point Comeback to Defeat Nets, 102-101
With just 6.2 seconds left in regulation and his team down 101-100, Magic guard Cole Anthony caught the inbound pass from Tristan da Silva with a 21 point comeback hanging in the balance in a thrilling matinee showdown against the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.
Anthony circled out near the court’s timeline with Keon Johnson on his hip before da Silva disrupted Johnson enough to free up Anthony, allowing him to get a step on the Brooklyn guard. From there, Anthony drove toward the paint and kissed a right handed floater off the glass to give the Magic a 102-101 lead with just over a second remaining.
The sellout crowd at the Kia Center erupted as Brooklyn’s Cam Thomas missed a buzzer-beating corner fadeaway three point attempt, sealing Orlando’s 20th win of the season on the back of a 22-4 run.
It had been just over a week since Cole Anthony provided heroics for the Magic in a 25 point comeback win over the Miami Heat in which he scored 27 of his 35 points in the second half. While Anthony’s shooting performance on Sunday (10 PTS, 3-11 FG) was not as efficient as it was against Miami, he delivered in the clutch once again.
“I didn’t play great, but I did something alright,” Anthony said. “That shot was definitely cool.”
When talking about the Magic using a 22-4 run to close out the game, Anthony spoke to the opportunities at hand.
“Everybody who wears this Orlando Magic uniform on this team currently puts the work in,” Anthony said. “It’s not a question of anyone’s ability, it’s just a matter of the opportunity.”
Sunday’s victory was another testament to the tenacity of this Magic squad. It was the team’s third time rallying from a double digit deficit to secure a win in a span of eight days, all while injuries continue to mount.
“It speaks so much to the resiliency of our guys,” Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley said after the game. “No matter how much we’ve been down, these guys are going to continue to fight.”
Orlando entered the game without the services of second year guard Anthony Black due to back spasms. During halftime, the team announced that Jalen Suggs would not return due to a right wrist sprain. The new injury additions come as the team deals with the recent losses of Franz and Mo Wagner while awaiting the return of franchise cornerstone Paolo Banchero.
Mosley provided affirmations for how his team has handled the rotating lineups over the last few weeks.
“It says that we are enough and that we have enough, no matter who’s on the floor,” Mosley said. “We know how we’re gonna defend, we know how we’re gonna communicate, we know how we’re gonna keep fighting.”
Mosley also gave credit to da Silva, who led the team with 21 points, 13 of which he scored in the fourth quarter.
“He has so much poise out there,” Mosley said about the 23-year-old rookie. “He has a high basketball IQ, and he cares about all the right things.”
Despite the adversity, the lineup changes and the thinning of depth, The Magic continue to fight and deliver.
“We got a tough group, man,” Anthony said.
For Nets Head Coach Jordi Fernández—whose team is in the midst of a roster shakeup after it was announced just hours before tip-off that the team would be trading Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton to the Los Angeles Lakers for D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis and three second rounders— the loss was about a lack of maturity.
“Yeah, it was a clear sign of not being mature,” Fernández said. “We just needed one more grown up to bring the guys together and, you know, calm everybody down and execute on the defensive end and win the game, and it didn’t happen.”
Sunday’s matchup solidified a regular season sweep of the Nets for Orlando. With a seven game home stand now in the books, The Magic will travel to Detroit to face the Pistons on New Year’s Day at 7 p.m.
0 Comments