The Portland Trail Blazers entered into a new era on Tuesday night. Hours after trading franchise stalwart CJ McCollum to the New Orleans Pelicans, the team was defeated at home by the Orlando Magic by a final score of 113-95, marking the fourth time in the last five games that they were held to less than 100 points. While the end result of the game was largely inconsequential—outside of draft lottery ramifications—there were both positives and negatives to take away from the contest.
The Magic jumped out to a comfortable 15-point lead at the half, but the undermanned Blazers—with just nine active players—scrapped away to trim the deficit to as little as five in the fourth quarter.