The Orlando Magic squeaked a 106-15 win out against the Miami Heat on Friday, and it took abiding by a formula to make it happen.
ORLANDO — After Friday night's win against the Miami Heat, it seems the Orlando Magic are starting to figure out their division rival.
The Magic are now 2-0 against Miami this season, and Friday's matchup served as a preview for Tuesday's NBA Cup quarterfinal matchup when Orlando will host the heat once again. With another victory under their belt, Magic guard Jalen Suggs talked about what it took to beat the Heat.
"A lot of our talk is just continue to stay with it," he said. "Continue to do things that we talk about. Defending, getting out and running. how to move in the half court offense, not stall them out, and then how to attack their zone. Again, I think that the important part is that basketball is a game of runs. And we know at some point, especially when you're at home, you kind of have to add a juice to go on the run."
"But we knew we'd have the chance to go on one and hold the lead. They pushed it to 10 for us, but we were out, and we got to come in fourth and hold that lead off to go win the game. So real group effort. Everybody played well. Tyus, Goga, everybody's ready to go. Dell did a great job staying locked in, coming back in fourth, and securing us a couple of huge possessions on the stretch.
The Magic have made it a priority to increase their pace of play this season, and Miami has the fastest pace in the league. Suggs and his teammates understand that if they convert on the defensive end and don't fall victim to the tempo the Heat want them to play at, then transition opportunities and other openings will occur on the offensive end which, by extension, will increase the Magic's own pace. It is a formula that has led to consecutive wins against Miami this season and may lead to another one on Tuesday.
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