Despite a fight between the Orlando Magic and Minnesota Timberwolves and five player ejections during this Friday night NBA matchup, Cole Anthony scored 20 points, and Moritz Wagner added 19 as Orlando’s bench led the Magic to a 127-120 victory.
There was a brawl when Minnesota guard Austin Rivers and Magic center Mo Bamba were involved in an altercation in front of the Orlando bench late in the third quarter. Rivers threw punches at Bamba as he came off the bench in a tussle that included several others. In the initial play, Rivers was pulled away from Bamba and to the ground by Jalen Suggs while other players joined in.
“You obviously want to have your teammate’s back and at the same time, you’ve got to be a professional,” said Wagner, who was ejected after a fight with the Detroit Pistons in December. “So, that’s a challenge for a young team like us. I think this time around we did a good job compared to last time. So, yeah, I don’t really know. It’s a weird dynamic. You don’t really want to be in those situations and it’s not really the best look. You want to be professional. At the same time, there is something in me that appreciates the team sticking together like that.”
The Timberwolves were without forward Kyle Anderson during the game because of an injury, but Rivers, Jaden McDaniels, and Taurean Prince were ejected. For Orlando, Bamba and Suggs were ejected.
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The Magic bench scored 72 points, led by reserve big man Bol Bol, who had 14 points. It was a rare defensive performance by Orlando, which was aided by Suggs’ on-ball defense before his ejection.
“You’ve got to keep playing,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “You have to win the game between the lines. It’s not about all the talking. It’s not about any of that. You’ve got to make sure you play the right way, do the right thing, continue to share the basketball and continue to defend.”
Minnesota, which had won six of eight games, got 29 points from D’Angelo Russell. A 19-point performance by Anthony Edwards was followed by 15 points from Rudy Gobert. The Timberwolves shot 46 percent from the floor, but what truly sank their outlook was recording 20 turnovers — resulting in 26 points off turnovers for the Magic.
“I don’t think our approach was wrong,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. “I think our execution was soft. And we wanted it to be a little easier than it was. Knew it would be a physical game. We had a hard time containing the ball. So yeah, felt like they were ready to play. They understood. When a little adversity hit, we really couldn’t stop it.”
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Minnesota, namely Edwards, was challenged by the Magic’s youth and length despite their 23rd ranking in defensive rating. Entering this game, he had scored at least 25 points in seven straight games and had more than 30 in five of them. Against the Timberwolves, he shot just 5 of 15 from the field and 1 for 7 from 3-point range.
