A slow first half and some sloppy efforts throughout ultimately doomed the Magic to a loss in the opener of their six-game road trip. The team struggled to shoot the ball in the first half, going down by a bucket at the end of the first and eventually 13 come halftime. Soft efforts defensively allowed the Nuggets to have their way inside, getting into the paint seemingly at will and crashing the offensive boards with relative impunity. When halftime sounded it was 54-41 Denver’s way.
Orlando started the second half in slightly better fashion, getting a couple of big threes early from D.