Orlando Magic: 3 takeaways from Game 3 loss vs. Raptors

Thanks to a third quarter scoring drought, the Orlando Magic gave home-court advantage back to the Toronto Raptors in Game 3. Here are three takeaways from the loss.

The Orlando Magic may have been blown out in Game 2 of their first round playoff series, but they took care of business in Game 1, stealing a precious contest on the road to seize home-court advantage. Unfortunately, they gave it right back to the Toronto Raptors in Game 3 Friday night.

In a 98-93 defeat at the Amway Center, the Magic fell behind 2-1 in their 2019 NBA Playoffs matchup against an Eastern Conference powerhouse. Although they were able to climb back within three points late in the fourth quarter, a scoring drought in the third all but doomed their chances of taking a lead in the series.

Despite a 61-60 advantage midway through the third, the Magic went cold from the field and Toronto went on a game-changing 16-0 run to seize a lead they wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the way.

Nikola Vucevic led Orlando with 22 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and three blocks in his first good game of the series. Terrence Ross chipped in a team-high 24 points off the bench, while Jonathan Isaac added 14 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

Pascal Siakam did the most damage for the Raptors, cementing a new playoff career high with 30 points and 11 boards.

No one expects the Magic to win this series, especially since they now need to take care of business in Game 4 and then steal another win on the road, but they’ve been in two of the three games so far and could make things interesting if they take care of a few key areas. Bearing that in mind, here are three takeaways from the Game 3 loss.