NEW ORLEANS – It’s only the preseason, but the Orlando Magic continued their dominance of the New Orleans Pelicans, beating the Pels by 17 in the preseason opener for both teams.
The Magic outscored New Orleans 96-67 over the final three quarters.
Brandon Ingram led six Pelicans in double figures with 14 points in 17 minutes. Zion Williamson had a solid all-around performance in his first game action since January, scoring 12 points with five rebounds and five assists in 15 minutes.
Wendell Carter Jr. was the top scorer for the Magic, finishing with 18 points. Cole Anthony added 13 points off the bench for Orlando.
Zion’s Return
After going without a basket during his initial appearance on the court, Williamson made four of his final six shots including an impressive dunk off a feed from Naji Marshall and a buzzer beating floater to end the first quarter.
“I thought (Zion) was great,” head coach Willie Green said after the game. “He looked good. He does what he does, he gets on the floor, he creates contact. His gravity gets guys open looks.”
Offense wasn’t an issue for the Pelicans in the first quarter as they jumped out to a 38-26 lead, but it was the rest of the way as New Orleans made only 26 of 72 (36.1%) field goal attempts over the final 36 minutes, including 5-of-26 (19.2%) from beyond the arc.
“I thought solid first half, second half, not so much,” Green added. “We’ve still got a ton of work in front of us, we know it.”
Live By The Three…
Getting more production from the outside has been a major focus for the Pelicans. New Orleans attempted 34 three pointers during the game, up slightly from its average of 30.1 from last season. Unfortunately, they still struggled to convert from distance, finishing the game with only eight makes.
Seven of those came in the first half.
Herb Jones was the only Pelican to make more than 33 percent of his attempts, making two of three triples. CJ McCollum, Brandon Ingram, Naji Marshall, Kira Lewis Jr., Jordan Hawkins, and Dyson Daniels went a combined 6-for-27 on their three-point attempts.
By the Numbers
New Orleans was outscored by 21 points from three point range, as Orlando held an 15-8 advantage in made triples.
The Pelicans got to the free throw line more times than the Magic, but finished even at the charity stripe. New Orleans made 19 of 29 FTA (65.5) compared to 19 of 26 for Orlando.
New Orleans narrowly won the battle of the boards (54-53). Jonas Valanciunas led all players with 11 rebounds.
The Pelicans committed 17 turnovers, which led to 26 points for the Magic, while the Pels only scored 14 points off of 13 Orlando giveaways.
Up Next
Houston Rockets on Thursday, Oct. 12
Time: 7:00 PM CT
Location: Legacy Arena at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (Birmingham, Ala.)
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Hot mess on defense. And we are going to be hurting in the front court. Pray for Larry Nance health.
The little I did see you are right. Zion has to play defense much better, CJ as well. Maybe BI has some grace because he will be ask to carry so much on offense. But, Zion can’t be allowing guys to blow right by him
Yea Deacon I don’t see any improvement on defensive end. Teams are going to run PNR until Pels show they can stop it. Herb is going to be called upon to be the defensive stud he is. Praying he stays healthy. Really want to see some season 2 improvement from DD. Wondering if Robbins, last year SEC defensive player of year will get any pre season play.
Surprised Pels waved Robbins. Injury must be worse then everyone thought