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Official Student Media of Valencia College

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Valencia Voice

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Magic win, Warriors fall again

ORLANDO — J.J. Redick had 16 points and four assists off the bench as the Orlando Magic beat the Golden State Warriors 99-85, on Friday, Dec. 14, in front of 17,040 fans at the Amway Center.

Nikola Vucevic had nine rebounds in the first quarter for the Magic, while Arron Afflalo added seven points for Orlando. Vucevic would finish the night with a career high 17 rebounds.

“As the biggest guy on the team, that’s what I have to do,” said Vucevic of his career high 17 rebounds. “I have to rebound for us to be able to get wins.”

J.J. Redick started the second quarter making back-to-back three-pointers, which led to a 10-2 Magic run. Redick scored eight points off the bench during the second quarter, while going 2-of-3 from three-point range. Andrew Nicholson also added nine points of the bench for Orlando during the quarter.

“Whoever comes into the game, they’re able to score,” said Vucevic on the play off the bench. “With J.J. and Andrew, when they come in they can score both inside and outside.”

The Magic ended the first half by going on a 15-4 run during the final four minutes of the quarter, leading Orlando to a 51-35 lead going into halftime.

The Warriors shot 28.8% from the floor in the first half, compared to Orlando’s 51.2%.

Golden State played much better in the third quarter, but the Warriors’ momentum was stopped when Orlando hit three, three-pointers in a row to jump out to a 72-54 lead with 2:37 remaining in the quarter.

Orlando went into the fourth quarter leading Golden State 81-64. David Lee scored eight points for the Warriors during the final quarter, but the Magic held their ground and came away with the win. Stephen Curry led all scorers for the game with 25 points, only one of which came in the fourth quarter.

The Magic out rebounded Golden State, 53-49 for the game, while allowing eight second chance points to the Warriors.

“It was a great team effort-wise rebounding,” said Magic head coach Jacque Vaughn. “We stressed that, especially against this team. One big difference why they were beating teams on this road trip is their defensive ration going into games.”

Orlando’s top three leading scorers for the game all came off the bench, with J.J. Redick leading the way with 16 points, Andrew Nicholson and E’Twaun Moore added 15 each.

“Our bench has been really good for us,” said Vaughn. “They were ready, they want to be in the game.

“The success that they’re achieving, they really do deserve it.”

Jameer Nelson also had 10 points and 11 assists for the Magic, as he and Vucevic both had double-doubles on Friday.

The Magic are now 2-0 against the Warriors this year, and improve their record to 9-13 for the season.

“I don’t think it’s so much them,” said Magic guard Arron Afflalo on beating Golden State twice this year. “Every time we’ve had to play them, we’ve had a heightened focus at that point in time, whether it was coming off an inspired Lakers win or coming off a pretty uninspired Atlanta loss.”

Orlando’s next game is tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 15, in Charlotte against the Bobcats.

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