Two of the NBA’s best defensive clubs collided Wednesday night and with that came the expectations of a slugfest between the Clippers and Orlando Magic.
The Clippers already were a team that was not the most potent offense, their 109.2 points per game the eighth-lowest in the league. And now they had to face a Magic team that allowed the least amount of points in the league (102.2) and was second in defensive rating (103.9). More so, the Magic had entered the game riding a six-game win streak in which none of their opponents had scored over 100 points and they were doing all this without their best player, Paolo Banchero, who is out with an oblique injury.