There is no doubt that the San Antonio Spurs are a great team, but that wasn’t enough to defeat the Orlando Magic in the NBA preseason on Tuesday. The Magic defeated Spurs 103-98 and shot 44 percent from the field. The Magic averaged 26.1 percent in three-point shooting with 13 turnovers and 37 rebounds.
Aaron Gordon led the Magic to the win against the Spurs, scoring 27 points and grabbing 10 rebounds while shooting 11-for-24 from the field. In addition, Jonathon Simmons scored 20 points with 10 assists, and Elfrid Payton scored 11 points with nine assists, securing the win against San Antonio.
Former Spur Jonathon Simmons had an impressive game
Jonathon Simmons is a former Spurs player. He signed up for a three-year deal with the Orlando Magic. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the deal is worth $6.3 million this season, $6 million next season, and $5.7 million in 2019-20, with a partial guarantee of $1 million in the final season.
The 28-year-old shooting guard had an impressive first game against his former team. He scored 20 points with 10 assists and two steals in his 33 minutes of game time. If he continues to play like this, the San Antonio Spurs might regret their decision in letting him go.
A solid game for the Spurs
They may have fallen a bit short against the Magic, but that doesn’t mean the Spurs didn’t put up a fight.
They had a solid game all throughout. LaMarcus Aldridge had an amazing performance, scoring 16 points with four rebounds, one assist and two steals. He shot 6-of-11 from the field in 25 minutes of game time. His consistency is showing from behind the arch, which goes a long way toward San Antonio spacing the floor.
A 21-year-old player of the Spurs, Dejounte Murray, had an incredible game night.
He added 15 points in his 26 minutes of game time with six rebounds, five assists, and three blocks. It wasn’t all layups and licorice for this youngster, as he still gets wild around the rim at times. The game was his fourth game with the Spurs this preseason and he is likely to take Tony Parker's (quad) spot as the point guard, for now.
Moreover, Rudy Gay had an impressive first game off the bench. He scored 13 points with seven rebounds, four assists, and a steal. He was pretty good with his performance during the game. Also, Patty Mills scored 13 points with two rebounds and one assist. The three-point shooting of San Antonio was not good for this game. As a team, the Spurs only shot 5-for-16 from long distance, and there was no player to shoot from the outside for more than one make. Although the Spurs had a solid game, it was not enough to pull out a win against the Orlando Magic.
