Unlikely Magic Heroes Attempt Comeback, But Fall Short vs. Bulls

The Orlando Magic trailed by as much as 25 points, but didn't quit against the Chicago Bulls. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to grab a win.

Jeremy Brener | Jan 28, 2023

Unlikely Magic Heroes Attempt Comeback, But Fall Short vs. Bulls /

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Orlando Magic

ORLANDO - The Orlando Magic (19-31) is on the losing end of the second half of its two-day Florida tour following a 128-109 loss against the visiting Chicago Bulls (23-26) on Saturday night.

In the first half, the Bulls took advantage of the tired Magic, who came back to Orlando early Saturday morning after its loss against the Miami Heat last night. The Bulls led by 13 points going into the locker room.

Chicago nearly doubled its lead throughout the third quarter, leading by 25 points with just over three minutes left in the frame.

Magic coach Jamahl Mosley inserted a new lineup with Cole Anthony, Jalen Suggs, Admiral Schofield, Bol Bol and Moe Wagner, who scored a team-high 27 points off the bench.

And they worked to get that deficit back.

Without subbing out for the rest of the game, the five unlikely bench heroes for the Magic made the game competitive once again, cutting the deficit to five points with four minutes to go. However, the group ran out of gas in the engine.

In the final four minutes, the Bulls closed out the game with a 17-3 run.

Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan led all scorers with 32 points apiece, while Nikola Vucevic scored 26 while grabbing 13 rebounds.

The Magic returns to the court Monday night when the team travels to the City of Brotherly Love to take on James Harden, Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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Published Jan 28, 2023

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.