“These are the worst kinds of games to lose,” Magic big man Mo Bamba told FortyEightMinutes and other media following the team’s 122-114 home loss to the Pacers.
The Magic lead the Pacers 91-76 heading into the fourth quarter, keeping Indy to just an 18-point quarter coming out of the half. However, Orlando ended up getting outscored 34-19 in the final quarter to ultimately go into overtime.
“We just got too happy on offense and tried to trade buckets,” Bamba said in regards to Orlando’s approach down the stretch.
However, late in regulation, there was a controversial call where the ball evidently went off of Malcolm Brogdon’s hand which would’ve resulted in it being Orlando’s possession. Instead, the referees ruled the Pacers maintained possession.
Magic rookie Franz Wagner smirked when initially asked what he thought of the call but said he “trusted he [the referee] made the right call.”
The Michigan product led the team in scoring with 28 points but alluded to Bamba’s late basket that was a tip shot with a mere 5.8 seconds left in regulation to force overtime and insisted that “it’s definitely not the reason” why Orlando lost tonight’s tilt.
Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley refrained from making any comment on the calls late in tonight’s loss.
“I’m going to try to not get fined right now but I appreciate the question,” Mosley gingerly told the media.
The Magic head coach did in fact give credit where credit was due in a hard-fought loss.
“Credit to Indiana for what they did, you know, coming back and getting a lot more aggressive, knocking down some shots, getting to the free-throw line,” Mosley said.
Orlando is currently at the bottom at the Eastern Conference and a play-in tournament looks highly unlikely, but the team is certainly using tough losses like this as a lesson going forward.
“This is great for these guys,” Mosley said. “Understanding that these are going to be continued scenarios where we have to figure out how to learn and how to get these games and pull them out down the stretch.”
Orlando has a quick turnaround as they head on the road to Toronto and Memphis respectively on a Friday and Saturday back to back. Best believe the team is already putting this loss behind them and focused on a tough road trip.
