Playing against a traveling opponent on the second night of a back-to-back, the Magic entered the contest against the Clippers in unfamiliar territory – as favorites. For the first time all season odds makers had given them the slight edge, a designation that looked good early but faded late behind an onslaught of threes and free-throws by Los Angeles.
Both teams started slowly, combining to miss eleven field goal attempts across the game’s opening minutes as they creaked to five apiece on the scoreboard. For the Magic it was Wendell Carter Jr. doing the heavy lifting, muscling his way to 2-4 from the field and also splitting a pair of free throws as he accounted for the entirety of Orlando’s scoring output.