Warriors Vs. Magic 2/11/2021

The Magic came into this game after losing 8 of their last 10 games. 3 of the Magic’s starters were injured in this game so they were at a major disadvantage going into this game. The Warriors came into this game after going 2-2 against the Spurs and Mavericks. The Warriors were still missing both of their centers in this game which meant that they would be playing small ball once again. This was the first time the Magic and Warriors played this season. For the Magic to win they needed Nikola Vučević to have an amazing game, defend Curry, and force a bunch of turnovers. For the Warriors to win they needed to have another nice game from Curry, defend Vučević, and rebound. Did Vučević and the Magic have a great game, did the Warriors get a blowout win, or was it a close game? To the game!

The Magic won the tip but the Warriors got the first points of the game after a defensive stop. Then at 10:39 Vučević made a layup to give the Magic their first points of the game. At 9:47 Stephen Curry made a 3 to give the Warriors the lead. At 7:43 Kelly Oubre Jr. made a putback layup to give the Warriors a 5 point lead and Frank Mason went to the locker room meaning the Magic didn’t have any point guards if he didn’t re-enter the game. At 4:38 Stephen Curry made a 3 to give the Warriors an 11 point lead. The next play Dwayne Bacon made a layup to bring it back down to a 9 point game. At 2:28 Khem Birch made a putback layup to make it a 3 point game. Then around the 1 minute mark Curry made a 3 to give the Warriors a 10 point lead. At the end of the first quarter the Warriors were leading 29-19. The Warriors had 4 more assists than the Magic in the first quarter and somehow out rebounded them too. The Warriors ended up having 21 of their 29 points coming off of 3’s. The Warriors shooting splits were 44% from the field and 38.9% from 3. The Magic on the other hand shot 33.3% from the field and 50% from downtown. The leading scorers were Curry with 12 and James Ennis lll with 7 after the first quarter. The Warriors went into the 2nd quarter hoping to ride their momentum to a nice lead at halftime. The Magic hoped to flip the script and tie the game or take the lead before halftime.

To start the 2nd quarter Vučević made a defensive 3 second violation free throw which Birch followed up with a layup for the Magic. At 10:55 Oubre Jr. made a 3 for the Warriors first points of the quarter. At 8:08 James Ennis lll made a 3 to help lower the Warrior lead to 8 points. At 6:52 Terrence Ross made jumper to make it a 4 point game. At 5:16 Chuma Okeke made a 3 to tie the game fir the Magic. Then at 4:42 Okeke made another 3 to take a 1 point lead after a Warrior layup. At 3:48 Curry tied the game at 40 with a nice 3. At 3:08 Dwayne Bacon made a 3 to take a 3 point Magic lead which led to a timeout from Steve Kerr. At 1:56 Vučević made 2 free throws to give the Magic a 6 point lead. Then at 1:45 Andrew Wiggins attempted the Warriors first free throws of the half. Wiggins ended up making both free throws to make it a 4 point game. At halftime the Magic were leading 55-47. The Warriors had a terrible 2 quarter and first half due to the fact that they had 5 more fouls and 3 more turnovers than the Magic. The Warriors also attempted a franchise record 30 threes in the first half. They didn’t even shoot particularly well from 3 with 36.7% and 37.8% from the field. The Magic shot pretty well with 42.2% from the field and 50% from 3. The leading scorers for each team were Stephen Curry and Terrence Ross who had 18 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals and 11 points, a rebound, and an assist respectively. The Warriors went into the 3rd quarter looking to retake the momentum and the lead. The Magic went into the 3rd looking to add to their lead and take over completely. To the third!

To start the 3rd quarter Vučević made a 3 to take an 11 point lead. Then at 10:43 Wiggins made a 3 to tie the game for the Warriors. At 9:52 Oubre Jr. made a 3 to make it a 3 point game. At 9:11 Curry made a 3 to tie the game at 58. That was the end of a 11-0 run. At 8:41 Gary Clark made a dunk to take the lead for the Magic. At 7:08 Ennis lll made a fastbreak dunk to give the Magic a 5 point lead. Wiggins followed that up with a 3 to make it a 2 point game. At 6:28 Draymond Green made 2 free throws to tie the game. Then at 6:07 Ross made a jumper to take a 2 point Magic lead. At 5:46 Bazemore made a 3 to retake the lead for the Warriors. At 4:43 Ross missed a free throw after making a layup while being fouled to take the lead for the Magic. At 3:03 Birch made 1 of 2 free throws to give the Magic a 5 point lead. At 1:14 Curry made a stepback 3 to give the Warriors a 2 point lead. Ross followed that up with a jumper to tie the game. With 37.7 seconds left in the quarter Curry made a jumper to give the Warriors a 2 point lead. With 3.9 seconds left in the quarter Draymond made a dunk to give the Warriors a 4 point lead going into the final quarter. At the end of the third quarter the Warriors were winning 84-80. The Warriors won the 3rd quarter 37-25 with the help of more assists than the Magic after the 3rd and good shooting splits which were 47% from the field and 42.9% from 3. The Magic’s shooting splits were 40.8% from the field and 40.9% from 3. Turnovers and fouls were really hurting the Warriors. The leading scorers for each team after the 3rd were Curry with 33 points and Vučević with 20 points. The Warriors hoped to ride their momentum to a win in the 4th quarter and

To start the 4th Bacon made a 3 followed by a Wiggins layup. At 10:01 Bacon banked in a 3 to tie the game at 86 for the Magic. At 9:26 Bacon made a floater to take a 2 point lead for the Magic. At 7:31 Wiggins made a jumper to retake the lead for the Warriors. At 5:50 Juan Toscano-Anderson made a layup to give the Warriors a 6 point lead. At 3:47 Oubre Jr. slammed in a fastbreak dunk to put the Warriors up 11. At 3:35 Bacon hit a 3 to cut the Warrior lead to 8 points. At 2:49 Toscano-Anderson made a 3 to retake an 11 point lead. A 21-3 run ended at about the 2 minute mark. At 1:46 Vučević made a layup to make it an 8 point game. At about the 1 minute mark Toscano-Anderson made a layup to retake a 10 point lead. With 16.1 seconds to go Ross made a 3 to make it a 4 point game. Curry then got fouled and made both free throws to make the score 111-105. The Warriors closed it out and won 111-105.

Leo’s Courtside Commentary: That 21-3 run in the 4th quarter really helped propel the Warriors to the win. Stephen Curry had 40 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals which was also essential to the win. Some of the Warriors strengths in this game were assisting with 10 more assists than the Magic and shooting with 46.6% from the field and 40% from deep. The shooting splits for the Magic were 39.2% from the field and 45.5% from downtown. One of the bright spots for the Magic were a nice game from Vučević who had 25 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals. Another bright spot was that Ross, Bacon, and Ennis lll combined for 57 points. Overall, this was another game where the Warriors took over in the 2nd half and took home the win.