Last Week: Beat Detroit Pistons 105-96, Lost to Detroit Pistons 105-93, Lost to Brooklyn Nets 129-92, Lost to Utah Jazz 124-109
This Week: 3/1 vs. Dallas Mavericks, 3/3 vs. Atlanta Hawks
After a really solid win to begin the week and the news just before the second game of the week, everything went downhill for the Orlando Magic. Rather than getting bogged down on the negative of losing to two of the best teams in the league and against the Detroit Pistons in the second of a head-to-head, let’s try to be positive.
In the first meeting with the Pistons, the Magic’s two leaders looked like the kind of stars they were expected to be coming into the season. Nikola Vucevic exploded for 37 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal. Evan Fournier did his part as well, posting a line of 29 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. This was a dominant effort by Fournier and Vucevic and helped lead to the good news that came out on Wednesday.
Nikola Vucevic was named to his second All-Star Game and the big man is more than deserving. He is having the best season of his career, averaging 24.4 points, 11.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.0 steals per game. Furthermore, he is shooting a blistering 41.0 percent on 6.4 3-point attempts per game. If seemingly every other rotation-caliber player on the roster had not missed a decent amount of time, the Magic would have the wins to have made Vuc a lock. It is good to see him rewarded regardless.