Almost everything went wrong for the Magic to start Tuesday’s NBA Cup quarterfinal against the Heat inside Kia Center.
First, Orlando was unable to use its custom grey court designed specifically for the league’s in-season tournament and instead had to play on its regular parquet court after the Cup version was damaged in storage.
Then, once the game started, Miami jumped out to a 15-0 lead and later held a game-high 16-point advantage, 18-2, over the Magic within the first four minutes.
Even the shot clocks located above the baskets malfunctioned late in the opening frame, which required the team’s new public-address announcer to share over the speakers in the arena when the sides only had 10 seconds to shoot and countdown from five.