Magic hand Spurs first defeat, Knicks notch first win

LOS ANGELES, USA – The upstart Orlando Magic handed the San Antonio Spurs their first defeat of the NBA season on Friday, October 27 (Saturday Manila time), dominating the perennial contenders, 114-87, in Orlando.

The Magic, paced by French forward Evan Fournier’s 25 points, got off to a quick start and never looked back against a Spurs team still without injured Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker.

They led by 14 points after the first quarter and 27 at halftime. After leading by as many as 36 points in the 3rd period, they were up by 31 going into the 4th – when none of the Magic starters played and San Antonio sat starters LaMarcus Aldridge, Kyle Anderson and Danny Green.

Magic reserve Jonathon Simmons, who played in San Antonio the past two seasons, chipped in 17 points against his former team. Aaron Gordon scored 16 points and Nikola Vucevic added 15 for the Magic.

Aldridge led the Spurs with 24 points and 11 rebounds, but he got little help. Pau Gasol had 12 points as the only other starter in double figures. Patty Mills also had 12 in reserve.

Orlando shot 57.1% from the field, while the Spurs made just 33.7% of their shots.

Fournier connected on 10 of 12 shots and all 4 of his 3-point attempts as Orlando improved to 4-1, matching their best start since the 2011-12 season.

As the Spurs were digesting their first defeat of the season, the New York Knicks were celebrating their first victory, a 107-86 triumph over the Brooklyn Nets.

Kristaps Porzingis scored 30 points to help the Knicks avoid their first 0-4 start since they dropped the first 5 games of the 2005-06 campaign – when they lost 59 games.

The 3rd-year forward from Latvia produced his 3rd 30-point game of the season as the Knicks bounced back from a 110-89 loss at Boston on Tuesday, October 24.

French rookie Frank Ntilikina made his home debut for the Knicks and scored his first career points in the 3rd quarter, finishing with 9 points and 5 assists.

There were no surprises in Charlotte, where James Harden had a triple-double of 27 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds to lead the Houston Rockets to a 109-93 victory over the Hornets.

The Rockets connected on 22 of 57 3-point attempts, making 6 more 3-pointers than two-pointers.

Up by only two points early in the 4th period, they pulled away to lead by as many as 16 against a Hornets team coming off a big win in Denver on Wednesday, October 25. – Rappler.com