BY: ANDREW LAM – SPORTS ON AIR CORRESPONDENT
NEW YORK – The Orlando Magic were on a nine-game winning streak entering Saturday’s encounter with the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center in New York.
That run ended in emphatic fashion when the Nets went on a scoring binge en route to an easy 129-101 victory in front of a fullhouse crowd of 17,966.
Mikal Bridges led the charge with 42 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. He hit 12 of 20 field goals including 3 of 6 from 3. Spencer Dinwiddie and Cameron Thomas joined the fray and combined for 42 points.
“I was ready to play. Just didn’t like that loss against Charlotte. Just wanted to win the game,” Bridges said while referring to his team’s narrow 129-128 home loss to the Hornets on Thursday.
This time the Nets were ready and scored a blistering 43 points in the opening quarter before leading the half at 73-51. They cruised on from there and finished at 50.5 percent shooting from the field (46-of-91) and 41.2 percent from three-point range (14-of-34).
Nets coach Jacque Vaugh was pleased with the effort of his team’s best player.
“I have always talked about one of the things that make him special is his will to win. And at the end of the day, it takes a lot to get yourself ready to play and do the things necessary to win,” Vaughn said in his post-game press conference.
The Magic got a mighty effort from Paolo Banchero who registered 19 points, 10 boards and 8 assists but the Magic stalled on offense, shooting just 40.2 percent from the field (35-of-87) and just 31 percent from beyond the arc (9-of-29).
Cole Anthony and Fritz Wagner pooled together 40 points for the Magic, which dropped to 14-6. The Nets improved to 10-9.
