Five takeaways from the Orlando Magic blowout victory over the Toronto Raptors

Carlan Gay

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Five takeaways from the Orlando Magic blowout victory over the Toronto Raptors image

The Raptors couldn't make a shot on Saturday (AEDT) and it cost them as the Orlando Magic rolled to a 116-87 blowout win.

Nikola Vucecvic led the way for the Magic with a game-high 30 points, 20 rebounds and eight assists. D.J. Augustin added 17 points, six assists and former Raptors Terrence Ross had 14 points off the bench in the win.

Kawhi Leonard led the Raptors with 21 points, six rebounds but after a hot start, he never seemed to get a rhythm after the first quarter.

Toronto will flip the page and head home to take on the Bulls in their last game in 2018 on Monday.

Here are five takeaways from today's night's game:

Poor shooting

It started in the second quarter and never stopped. The Raptors went 5-for-23 in the second quarter from the field and went into the halftime break down nine. It didn’t get any better after halftime as the Raptors ended the game shooting a season-low 29% from the field. It’s a make or miss league and no matter what the Raptors did shooting under 30% is a recipe for disaster.


One positive shooting note is that they knocked down 12 threes — which on most nights may be good enough to get a win.

Is Nikola Vucevic an All-Star? 

Nikola Vucevic is a flat-out beast. Had he been playing in the 90s or early 2000s he would be a superstar. The Raptors had no answer for Vucevic as he finished with a game-high 30 points, 20 rebounds and eight assists. It was pretty much a layup drill for Vucevic inside as he had finished with easy dunks and layups all night. Matter of fact the entire Magic team had an easy time scoring in the paint as 52 of their 116 points came inside.


Vucevic on the season is enjoying career-high in points, rebounds and assists. The argument for him to represent the Magic at the All-Star game in Charlotte is one worth having.

Rebounding

When you miss shots it creates rebounding opportunities and with the way the Raptors shot the ball the Magic had plenty of rebounding opportunities and to their credit, they gobbled up most.

Orlando outrebounded the Raptors 60-41, and even though Toronto had 14 offensive rebounds it felt like there weren’t able to take advantage of them.

If there was one thing that the Magic had a clear disadvantage in coming into the game it was rebounding, but without Valanciunas and also Lowry who is a really good rebounder for a guard, the Magic pounded the Raptors on the glass. 

Bad timing Siakam

Pascal Siakam probably picked the worst time to have a down night. No Kyle Lowry, no Jonas Valanciunas he needed to step up and he didn’t.

Siakam finished the night 1-for-8 from the field, a couple of turnovers and a forgetful plus/minus of -20.

Siakam has been brilliant for the Raptors all season long, but this shows that he isn’t just a luxury he’s a key component to Toronto’s success.

Magic ball movement

The Magic’s ball movement was terrific all night as they finished with 29 assists on their 44 made shots.

Coming into the game Orlando averaged 24.5 assists, good for 13th in the league. Anytime a team gets close to 30 assists on a night it’s a good sign that the ball isn’t stopping and that the opposing team’s defence has to cover so much ground.


The Raptors were chasing the ball a ton on Saturday, and it led to good looks from the Magic.

Carlan Gay

Carlan Gay Photo

Carlan Gay is an assistant managing editor at The Sporting News with a focus on the NFL, NBA, College & global sports. Carlan is also a play-by-play announcer for FIBA calling games on the international level since 2017.

You can follow Carlan on Twitter at @TheCarlanGay.