The Orlando Magic thought they had survived the early storm. They had given up some 3-pointers early in a 7-0 spurt to start the game for the Portland Trail Blazers. But the Magic answered back and took the lead. Nikola Vucevic hit a pair of 3-pointers on his own and the Magic’s offense was rolling again.
Coach Steve Clifford’s warning from Friday that this offense was fool’s gold proved prophetic. He would say after the game the team needed to get back to playing “Magic defense” or they would not even make the playoffs.