The Golden State Warriors faced the Magic in what felt like a trap game. They needed to win, and with a dominant game from Stephen Curry, they did.
The Orlando Magic have one of the best centers in the Eastern Conference and maybe even a top-five center in the league in Nikola Vucevic. Why is that important to know? Well, the Warriors currently do not have a center on their active roster.
However, they do have Draymond Green, a former Defensive Player of the Year, and he certainly looked the part against the Magic
The thing that really kept this game close was the Warriors’ turnovers and the points the Magic scored off those giveaways. Steve Kerr-led teams are not known to turn the ball over, but this game was definitely different.
Warriors Biggest Flaws Against Magic on Thursday
Like we previously stated, the turnovers nearly killed Golden State.
Their 17 in the game was too much by itself. It also did not help that the Magic had 24 points off of turnovers. The Warriors ended up winning a game that anyone outside of Curry didn’t play overly well.
Golden State had a problem with sending Orlando to the foul line in this one as well.
It is one thing when you send a team to the line. It is another thing when they make them. The Magic went 14-18 from the line on Thursday night, meaning they capitalized on the free opportunities given to them by Golden State.
With all of the centers on Golden State out, the notion that rebounds would be hard to come by was a possible one, especially given the presence of the Orlando bigs. The Magic are a lengthy team that has rebounded very well this season.
While the Warriors finished with a defensive rebound more than Orlando, the Magic hit the offensive boards hard. They had a 13-9 advantage in that category, mainly due to the size discrepancy.
That said, this win will help the Warriors continue to work their way up the Western Conference standings. Not to mention, Stephen Curry is still on fire right now.