Speights comes through again
MAGIC REPORT MEMPHIS, Tenn. — just the
keeps delivering Orlando Magic.
On a night when the Orlando Magic’s bench struggled t e r r i b l y, Speights was the exception.
Speights played only four minutes in the Magic’s 101-99 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, but they were a productive four minutes.
Coach subbed Speights into the game for the first time with 1:19 to play in the third quarter. Fourteen seconds later, Speights drained a 3-pointer from 25 feet.
Speights finished with six points and played solid defense.
The Magic outscored the Grizzlies by seven points when Speights was in the game — making him the lone Magic bench player to finish the night with a positive plus-minute figure. for not worried about him at all.
Ross finished with 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting and three rebounds. Although he had four turnovers, he also blocked two shots. Fizdale was upset particular with in
when Chalmers botched a fastbreak layup opportunity with 30.6 seconds to go.
Chalmers slowed, which allowed
to sprint back into the play. Vucevic made contact with Chalmers, but the referees didn’t call a foul. Chalmers missed his layup attempt.
“Mario made a ridiculous play,” Fizdale said.
“We slowed down to let the slowest guy on the court catch up to us to try to draw a foul to lay it up,” Fizdale added. “You don’t deserve to win the game when you do that stuff. I’m sorry. Obviously, I’m going to show [the film]. They’re going to have to go through the pain of watching it again, because I’m obviously going to have to watch it a couple more times. If I have to suffer, they have to suffer, and we’ll get better.”
Vogel acknowledged the Magic received some luck, partly because Memphis played without injured point guard
The Grizzlies also missed two open 3-pointers late in the game.
“We got very lucky down the stretch,” Vogel said. “But that’s the game of basketball. Sometimes guys hit guarded shots, and you’ve got to live with that. And sometimes you have a miscue, and they get an open look and miss. So it’s the game of basketball.”