MINNEAPOLIS – The Orlando Magic’s easy, breezy, feel-good start to Friday night’s game apparently lulled them into believing that they were well on their way to another one-sided rout of a struggling foe.
Instead, all the strong offensive start did was mask their struggles defensively in slowing down the play of point guard Jeff Teague and standout center Karl-Anthony Towns. In the end, the Magic’s uneven play in game mirrored their inconsistent play on the season and resulted in another frustration-filled defeat.
Orlando made 26 of its first 34 shots and built a 19-point first-half lead only to struggle on both ends of the floor the rest of the way in a disappointing 120-103 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center.