Unlikely Magic Heroes Attempt Comeback, But Fall Short vs. Bulls
ORLANDO - The Orlando Magic (19-31) is on the losing end of the second half of its two-day Florida tour following a 128-109 loss against the visiting Chicago Bulls (23-26) on Saturday night.
In the first half, the Bulls took advantage of the tired Magic, who came back to Orlando early Saturday morning after its loss against the Miami Heat last night. The Bulls led by 13 points going into the locker room.
Chicago nearly doubled its lead throughout the third quarter, leading by 25 points with just over three minutes left in the frame.
Magic coach Jamahl Mosley inserted a new lineup with Cole Anthony, Jalen Suggs, Admiral Schofield, Bol Bol and Moe Wagner, who scored a team-high 27 points off the bench.
And they worked to get that deficit back.
Without subbing out for the rest of the game, the five unlikely bench heroes for the Magic made the game competitive once again, cutting the deficit to five points with four minutes to go. However, the group ran out of gas in the engine.
In the final four minutes, the Bulls closed out the game with a 17-3 run.
Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan led all scorers with 32 points apiece, while Nikola Vucevic scored 26 while grabbing 13 rebounds.
The Magic returns to the court Monday night when the team travels to the City of Brotherly Love to take on James Harden, Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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