ORLANDO, Fla. — The new-look Orlando Magic gave coach Steve Clifford what he expected and gave the Portland Trail Blazers all they wanted.
In the end, it just wasn’t enough.
The Magic began a new era but had that familiar short-handed look as they closed out a three-game homestand Friday with a hard-fought 112-105 loss to the Trail Blazers before a crowd of 3,827 at Amway Center.
Orlando shook up its roster Thursday after trading five players — Al-Farouq Aminu, Gary Clark, Evan Fournier, Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic — in three separate deals. The four players the Magic acquired — Wendell Carter Jr., R.J. Hampton, Gary Harris and Otto Porter Jr. — underwent physical exams Friday afternoon and were not ready to play.
The Magic also did not have shooting guard Terrence Ross, who missed his sixth straight game with a sore right knee.
So the Magic took on the Trail Blazers with eight available players. Still, Clifford said before the game that he knew his group would give him a good effort.
He was right. The Magic just couldn’t overcome the Trail Blazers’ perimeter shooting. Portland went 18 of 40 from the 3-point line while Orlando was 12 of 27.
Chuma Okeke finished with a career-high 22 points to lead the Magic (15-30), who put seven players in double figures. James Ennis finished with 18 points, Dwayne Bacon had 17, Khem Birch had 14, Mo Bamba and Michael Carter-Williams each had 11 and Chasson Randle had 10.
C.J. McCollum and Norman Powell each scored 22 points to lead Portland (27-18) while Anfernee Simons, Robert Covington and Enes Kanter each had 15 points.
The Magic trailed by 13 at one point and were down 11 in the third quarter before an 11-0 run got them back in it.
It was a 94-94 game when Portland pulled ahead to stay as McCollum sank a 3, Kanter converted a layup and Covington put back a missed 3 with a dunk.
It was 106-101 when Carter-Williams missed a layup and Portland responded with a put-back by Kanter.
Orlando could get no closer than five.
The biggest key moving forward for the Magic will be getting organized and Clifford said that will be the focus over the next few days.
For his part, Clifford began watching some film on his new players Thursday, but said he’s eager to begin coaching them so he can properly evaluate their games.
“They always say you never know a player and team culture, and so I’ll wait until I have time to meet with them, talk to them and have time to coach him before I really make any opinions on what they can bring and where they’re at,” Clifford said.
The Magic had eight players when they lost 109-90 to the Suns in Phoenix on Feb. 14.
“The last time we played with eight in Phoenix, we played pretty well, so fingers crossed,” Clifford said before Friday’s tipoff.
