Magic
The Cavaliers got a pretty good look Tuesday at what Orlando wants its offense to become. They probably would have preferred a less convincing demonstration.
The Magic led wire-to-wire in a 132-116 win, finishing with 34 assists. Through three quarters, while the regulars were playing, Orlando had 27 assists against just nine turnovers.
As Matt Hanifan of Magic On SI noted, the ball movement and activity under coach Sean Sweeney have been encouraging. Orlando kept Cleveland’s defense busy in both transition and the halfcourt, with Jalen Suggs making his preseason debut.
The Magic also continue to get useful minutes from second-year forward Noah Penda. He finished with five points, four rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal in 14 minutes.
Nobody is framing that stat line. But Hanifan pointed to Penda’s defensive work against James Harden and Donovan Mitchell, along with a smoother jumper, as reasons to like his chances of earning rotation minutes.
Orlando is counting on improvement from its young reserves. Penda is giving the Magic something to work with.
Trail Blazers
Deni Avdija did most of the scoring, Ja Morant took care of the ball and the Blazers did plenty of damage near the basket.
That was enough for a 110-98 win at Sacramento, moving Portland to 3-0 in the preseason. Avdija finished with 26 points, nine rebounds and four assists while shooting 9-of-13 from the field.
Morant added 14 points and six assists without a turnover, his strongest preseason outing yet. Damian Lillard also scored 14, while Donovan Clingan blocked five shots.
Portland outscored Sacramento 54-22 in the paint, though the Kings were missing Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis, Malik Monk and several other regulars.
There was still material for coach Micah Nori’s next film session. The Blazers shot just 11-of-44 from beyond the arc, committed 14 turnovers and allowed 17 offensive rebounds, as Elias Esquivel of Trail Blazers On SI detailed.
So the record looks good. Giving opponents extra possessions still needs work, especially once those opponents start bringing their full rosters.
Warriors
Coming back from 20 points down sounds encouraging. Falling behind by 20 against a Lakers team without Luka Doncic makes the evening a little harder to celebrate.
The Warriors managed both Tuesday, rallying for a 101-88 win in Las Vegas. Yaxel Lendeborg supplied one of the clearer positives, finishing with 17 points, four assists and just one turnover.
As Joey Akeley of Warriors On SI wrote, Lendeborg stayed aggressive attacking the basket even with Walker Kessler protecting it. He helped fuel a 14-0 third-quarter run that got Golden State back into the game.
The Warriors committed 20 turnovers, though, and Stephen Curry finished with 11 points on 3-of-9 shooting, two assists and three giveaways.
Draymond Green’s absence was noticeable, particularly in the early offensive struggles. Lendeborg also had defensive problems against Austin Reaves, a reminder that his promising offense doesn’t answer every lineup question.
Golden State got the win and another encouraging performance from Lendeborg. It also got a few reminders of how much it still asks of Curry and Green.
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