TORONTO — The Toronto Raptors might hardly miss. The Orlando Magic appeared determined to give them open likelihood after open likelihood.
In a key recreation Sunday amongst two groups which might be within the morass of Eastern Conference groups seeded between fifth and eighth, the Raptors hung a 31-0 run on the Magic, protecting 7 minutes, 47 seconds. It was the longest unanswered scoring surge by any staff within the Play-by-Play period courting again to the Nineties, surpassing a Dallas Mavericks 30-0 run in opposition to the Oklahoma City Thunder in December 2023, in accordance to the NBA.
To make issues extra embarrassing for the Magic, the Raptors had been with out beginning guard Immanuel Quickley, main scorer Brandon Ingram and rotation reserves Collin Murray-Boyles and Jamison Battle.
Still, the Raptors ran the ball down the Magic’s throat, with Orlando contributing 10 turnovers to the trigger in the course of the run. The Raptors’ half-court offense is their largest weak point. Nearly each coach speaks in regards to the significance of taking good care of the ball earlier than enjoying the Raptors, attempting to preserve their offensive tempo down. Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley, who has been below hearth lately for the Magic’s disappointing season, was no exception.
“They don’t give you one set way of (forcing turnovers),” Mosley mentioned earlier than the sport. “You can bring the ball up the floor and think you’re by yourself, and all of a sudden Scottie (Barnes) is flying in from the baseline to (trap) the ball. The next time you’re in the post, you think you’re alone, and RJ (Barrett) comes with the double team. … They play off each other very well and fly around and cover for each other.”
However, the Magic had been doing lots of this to themselves: There had been single-minded drives into site visitors, targets for passes not wanting on the ball and weak takes in transition. The Magic turned the ball over 12 occasions within the first quarter, tying a staff report for many in any quarter. They turned the ball over 19 occasions within the first half, after which they trailed 70-43. Since March sixteenth, the Magic ranked twenty sixth in defensive ranking and twenty first in web ranking coming into Sunday’s recreation.
The Raptors made them pay, with Sandro Mamukelashvili scoring 11 factors, together with two of the Raptors’ 4 3s in the course of the spurt. The Raptors went 9 of 13 from the sphere and seven of seven from the free-throw line.
The Raptors got here into the sport at 41-32, in fifth place within the Eastern Conference, two video games forward of eighth-place Orlando (39-34).
