Mavericks hold off Magic
Luka Doncic scores 33 points and dishes out nine assists as Orlando’s late surge falls short, resulting in a 130-124 loss.
As the Orlando Magic found out, it’s hard to outscore the Dallas Mavericks.
Luka Doncic finished with 33 points and nine assists as the Mavericks held off the Magic for a 130-124 victory Monday night before 3,766 fans at Amway Center.
Nikola Vucevic delivered 29 points along with a game-high 15 rebounds while Evan Fournier scored 26 for Orlando (13-22).
Terrence Ross and Michael Carter-Williams each added 18 points for the Magic, who lost their fourth straight.
Dallas (17-16) also got 24 points from Jalen Brunson as its bench outscored Orlando’s 50-37.
Dallas led 72-69 when it began to create some separation in the third quarter. A threepoint play by Doncic capped an 11-2 run as the Mavericks built their first double-digit lead.
The Magic got a three-point play by Ross, a 3 by Gary Clark and a 3 by Vucevic to close within 85-80.
Dallas led by nine to the fourth quarter, then scored the first four points to restore its doubledigit advantage.
The Magic offense picked up, but they were stuck with four- and five-point bursts as they couldn’t get enough stops to fuel more substantial runs.
It appeared as if Dallas was ready to pull away when Doncic found Dorian Finney-Smith for a layup to make it 120-102.
But back-to-back 3s from Vucevic and Chuma Okeke gave the Magic life, and they eventually got as close as five after a Ross 3 with 16.6 seconds left.
Ross then misfired on a 3 from the corner on the next possession. Doncic was fouled and made one of two free throws to make it 130-124 with 7.3 seconds to play before Ross missed another 3 as the Magic felt short.
The Magic close out their first-half schedule Wednesday when they host the Atlanta Hawks. The game tips off at 8 p.m. and will be broadcast on Fox Sports Florida.
Orlando City attackers Benji Michel and Andrés Perea have earned call-ups to a 31-player roster for training camp with the U.S. men’s national team this month.
The group will train together in Guadalajara, Mexico before narrowing down a 20-player roster for the Concacaf Men’s Olympic Qualifying Championship.
Michel and Perea were mostly off the Americans’ radars ahead of the 2020 season, but both have earned consistent call-ups since standing out with the Lions last year. Perea made his one-time affiliation switch from Colombia to the U.S. in January, officially committing to the Americans ahead of a packed calendar for both the senior and U-23 teams.
Men’s soccer is limited to U-23 teams in the Olympics, allowing three over-age players to each team. This provides younger players like Michel and Perea valuable international competition.
The pandemic forced the Olympic qualifiers to be postponed from March 2020. However, players previously eligible before the postponement will be allowed to compete this summer.
The U.S. men’s national team will play Costa Rica March 18, the Dominican Republic March 21 and Mexico March 24 to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics this summer. All three matches will be broadcast on FS1 and TUDN.
“We’re excited to finally return to Guadalajara ahead of the Olympic qualifying tournament,” U-23 coach and former Orlando City coach Jason Kreis said. “A lot has changed since March 2020, but we’ve seen our player pool grow and gain invaluable experience over the last year . ... I’m confident that the group we’ve assembled can achieve our ultimate goal of qualifying for the Olympics in Tokyo.”
Full U-23 roster:
Goalkeepers: Matt Freese, Jonathan Klinsmann, JT Marcinkowski, David Ochoa
Defenders: Julian Araujo, George Bello, Marco Farfan, Justen Glad, Aaron Herrera, Henry Kessler, Mauricio Pineda, Miles Robinson, Austin Trusty, Sam Vines
Midfielders: Frankie Amaya, Cole Bassett, Johnny Cardoso, Hassani Dotson, Andrés Perea, Tanner Tessmann, Eryk Williamson, Jackson Yueill
Forwards: Jesús Ferreira, Brooks Lennon, Jonathan Lewis, Ulysses Llanez, Benji Michel, Djordje Mihailovic, Ricardo Pepi, Sebastian Saucedo, Sebastian Soto