In the first quarter of the Orlando Magic’s game against the Brooklyn Nets, the Magic knew they had a distinct advantage and looked to exploit it.
The ball got dumped into Nikola Vucevic for post-ups and short rolls. Aaron Gordon got into the paint and attacked the smaller defenders on him. The Nets, admittedly young, were scrambling to swarm and surround the Magic’s bigs. Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon combined to score the Magic’s first 18 points.
In this game against another struggling team, Brooklyn was going to do what it needed to do and stick with an identity that has established the team as at the very least pesky.