For the Orlando Magic, matchups against teams below them in the standings aren’t supposed to feel like uphill battles from the start.
But that’s exactly what Tuesday’s 132-114 road loss to the San Antonio Spurs (18-50) was.
And each time it appeared the Magic (28-41) were going to climb over the hill, the Spurs buried one of their franchise-best 22 3-pointers to prevent Orlando from tying the game or take the lead.
The Magic’s lack of physicality defensively allowed the Spurs to get comfortable and in a shooting rhythm from beyond the arc early.
San Antonio made 6 of 9 3s in the first and 10 of 18 shots from beyond the arc in the first half to take a 67-61 lead.
After trailing by 17 midway through the third, the Magic kept chipping away, cutting the deficit to 6-9 points multiple times. They trailed 112-106 after Cole Anthony (14 points, five rebounds and four assists off the bench) made a pull-up jumper with 6:28 remaining.
But the Spurs, led by rookie forward Jeremy Sochan (29 points, 11 rebounds) continued to share the ball and pile on the 3s, running away with the game late. San Antonio had 39 assists on 48 made baskets.
Paolo Banchero scored a team-high 27 points on 11-of-21 shooting to go with six rebounds. Seven Magic players scored in double figures, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Orlando constantly allowing dribble penetration into the paint that led to 3s.
Second-year forward Franz Wagner (11 points and four assists in 28 minutes) started despite spraining his right ankle in Saturday’s home win over the Miami Heat.
Heat guard Kyle Lowry fell on Wagner’s ankle as both were running up the floor after a Miami missed basket with around nine minutes remaining in the game. Play continued for about 20 seconds, with Wagner hobbling on the ankle until Magic coach Jamahl Mosley was able to call a timeout.
The Magic said X-rays on Wagner’s ankle were negative, meaning no damage was shown, before adding the diagnosis was a sprain.
Wagner has missed just three games because of injury since being the No. 8 pick in the 2021 draft, all of which came at the end of last season because of a sprained right ankle.
The lone game he sat for this season was because of the suspensions given to multiple players after a Dec. 28 altercation between the Magic and Pistons in Detroit.
Wagner sprained his left ankle and had an early exit in a win over the Charlotte Hornets earlier in the month but was available for the next game.
Tuesday kicked off a four-game trip, with matchups against the Phoenix Suns (Thursday), Los Angeles Clippers (Saturday) and Los Angeles Lakers (Sunday) ahead.
