Field Level Media
Mar 13, 2018
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 24 points in three quarters of action and paced five teammates in double-figure scoring as the host San Antonio Spurs waylaid the hapless Orlando Magic 108-72 on Tuesday at the AT&T Center.
The Spurs snapped a three-game losing streak but still have lost five of their past seven outings. The win was just San Antonio's fourth in its past 15 contests.
The downward spiral has placed San Antonio's streak of 20 consecutive playoff seasons in jeopardy. The Spurs haven't missed the postseason since the 1996-97 campaign, when the now retired Tim Duncan was a senior at Wake Forest.
The loss was the fifth straight for Orlando and 12th in its past 14 games. The Tuesday game was the last of a season-high, five-game road trip for the Magic, who have lost eight straight away games dating back to a 111-109 win at Miami on Feb. 5.
Patty Mills added 13 points for the Spurs while Danny Green, Dejounte Murray and Pau Gasol scored 11 points each and Tony Parker hit for 10.
Orlando got 10 points each from Nikola Vucevic and Jonathon Simmons. Vucevic also grabbed 10 rebounds.
San Antonio led just 24-18 after the first quarter but opened up the margin in a big way in the second when it forged a 24-5 run over a seven-minute span. The Spurs were on top 54-29 with 3:27 to play until halftime.
The Spurs led 62-37 at intermission behind 14 points from Aldridge, a 56 percent-35 percent edge in shooting, a 22-11 advantage in bench scoring and a defensive effort that forced 11 Orlando turnovers in the first half.
Vucevic paced the Magic with just eight points in the first two quarters.
San Antonio kept up the rout in the third quarter, outscoring the Magic 34-20 and taking a 96-57 lead into the final 12 minutes.
Orlando's leading scorer Aaron Gordon, who was expected to play Tuesday as he was cleared from the league's concussion protocol and practiced with the team on Monday, did not suit up. The Magic also played without Evan Fournier (who has a sprained left knee) and Terrence Ross, who is out for the rest of the season with a sprained right knee and broken leg.
The Spurs return to the floor on Thursday when they host the surging New Orleans Pelicans. The Magic head home to host the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday in the first contest of a seven-game homestand.
--Field Level Media