The Orlando Magic won an ugly 95-92 overtime preseason win over the star-less Miami Heat. They still provided some highlights for the home crowd.
Tuesday’s exhibition game between the Orlando Magic and the Miami Heat was not important for the final result — a 95-92 overtime win. It was not even that important for anything that happened during the game — the Heat played without most of their starters.
The Magic made some progress, as I wrote for Orlando Magic Daily, but it was still hard to judge them on much of anything:
“It was OK,” coach Scott Skiles said. “We didn’t take a step back from the previous game, which would have been ahrd to do considering how we started that game. We had some good active hands and we’re definitely making a solid attempt to try to get it all down and try to learn it and be where we’re supposed to be. We’re just not quite there yet.”
What Tuesday was for the Magic was an opportunity to showcase themselves in front of their fans for the second time this season and also to do so for the local television market. As much as that can matter for a team that is trying to focus more on winning consistently and turning the corner toward competitiveness on the court.
It was an ugly game — both teams shot worse than 40 percent and hovered in the mid-30s — but there were still plenty of highlights.
Aaron Gordon’s return to action got the Magic focused on defense in a way they had not been to this point in the preseason. That got the Magic out and running. And when that happens, Gordon can do things like this:
#SuperMario + @Double0AG = 🔥🔥! #PureMagic https://t.co/kv6V8Tkoo5
— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) October 14, 2015
And then things like this:
👀👀👀👀👀👀👀. Watch more: http://t.co/rCeNaV1ZZf http://t.co/JyvzZO67Bp
— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) October 14, 2015
It did not look like Gordon missed too much of a beat, although his jumper was a bit off at times as he rushed his way back to NBA game speed. It was a productive return for Gordon.
Then there was Mario Hezonja. In his second game in front of Magic fans, Hezonja had his moments of brilliance too. He still tends to look for his own shot a bit too much, but finding his place on both offense and defense will come as he matures and gets more NBA experience.
In addition to that crazy bounce pass to Gordon on the break, Hezonja had his own highlight:
#SuperMario 😱 https://t.co/PFkyqEKb24
— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) October 14, 2015
At the end of the night, Magic fans got what they wanted. They saw enough of their team to get some entertainment and promise out of the young guys. And they got a win, that is nice.
The Magic saw some moments of good to continue growing as the preseason nears its end (the Magic are flying to Brazil for an exhibition game Saturday). But they still have plenty of work to do.
