The Orlando Magic beat the Miami Heat 116-109. Top scorers of Wednesday's game were Evan Fournier for the Magic and Hassan Whiteside for the Heat. Fournier led the Rockets’ to victory with 23 points, one rebound, and three assists. Heat's Whiteside, on the other hand, had 26 points, 22 rebounds, and one assist. The Heat took the lead in the first quarter but ended up blowing a five-point lead as the Magic bounced back in the succeeding quarters, ending the game with a seven-point win.
Goran Dragic had difficulty in finding the basket
Goran Dragic had a hard time finding the basket on Wednesday’s match against the Magic.
The 31-year old veteran went 6-of-19 from the field, 1-of-4 from the three-point line, and 4-4 from the Free Throw Line. Although Dragic did not shoot efficiently on that game, he still managed to rack up 17 points, six assists, five rebounds, and one steal while impressively committing no turnovers. Dragic now entered his 10th season in the NBA league. Last season, Dragic had averages of 20.3 points, 5.8 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game.
Nikola Vucevic secured double-double
Nikola Vucevic was being encouraged by the coaching staff of the Magic to shoot more threes this season, which everyone saw come to realization during Wednesday’s regular-season opener. The six-year NBA player finished the game last night with 19 points, 13 rebounds, two steals and two blocked efforts.
Vucevic went 17-of-22 from the field, 6-of-8 from the three-point line, and 1-of-2 from the free throw line. In 2012, Vucevic was traded to the Orlando Magic in a four-team trade involving Andre Iguodala, Andrew Bynum, Dwight Howard, Arron Afflalo, and other players. On Friday's match against the Brooklyn Nets, Vucevic scored his career-high of 41 points and 12 rebounds.
Terrence Ross scored 15 points
Terrence Ross was previously rumored to miss the season opener because of a hamstring strain. The news did not come as much of a surprise, as Ross was a full participant during Tuesday's practice. Ross played a decent game on Wednesday night with 15 points, six rebounds, four assists, and two steals across 31 minutes floor time.
The 26-year old was seen to have started at small forward but faced competition for minutes against free-agent addition Jonathan Simmons and the rookie Jonathan Isaac. After his debut in Magic, Ross averaged 12.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.4 steals per game.
