By Bob Pincus
For the News-Gazette
Mac McClung and his Osceola Magic teammates wanted the chance to participate in the G-League Showcase Cup next week in Orlando. They did their part by beating the Mexico City Capitanes, 130-108, Saturday night at Silver Spurs Arena. The win secured a split of back-to-back home games.
Seven Magic players scored double digits, led by McClung (26 points, 7 assists). Trevelin Queen added 19 points and a season high 12 assists. Mexico City (8-6) was led by Ethan Thompson’s 38 points.
The winning team in the Showcase Cup splits $100,000. But the ultimate goal for the players is the NBA. McClung, the ex-76ers guard and G League Player of the Month for November, wants to get back to the NBA. All NBA general managers will be on hand for the showcase.
“[The showcase] is important,” McClung, who won the NBA Dunk Contest last season, said. “I play the game the same way every day. I’m not going to play any different than I played tonight. We have a lot of guys who I believe can play in the NBA so hopefully they show that as well.”
Magic coach Dylan Murphy added, “Mac is someone on the NBA radar. It’s not about your performance in one or two games. They are looking at the whole body of work.
“We’ve had some guys who have been in the NBA and G League for a couple of year. If you want individual success, team success comes first. The most call ups come from the teams that win.”
As in many games this season, the Magic (8-6) jumped out to a 13-point lead early but by the end of the first quarter were only up two points. The Magic led the Capitanes 57-52 at the half. This time Osceola broke away in the third quarter outscoring Mexico City, 39-28 in the period.
“We needed to continue to build that sense of urgency in the second and third quarters and not waiting until it becomes a game again until we turn the jets on,” Murphy said. “
Daeqwon Plowden (18 points), D. J. Wilson (15), Myron Gardner (13), Miye Oni (13), and Trey Maddox (12) led the Osceola scoring. There was a noticeable sense of team enthusiasm on the court and bench as the lead grew.
“We were sharing the ball,” McClung noted. “Our scorers were sharing the ball. TQ has 12 assists who is a big scorer for us. We just like to play the game of basketball. We have a lot of competitive people. We just decided to have fun and play together tonight.”
On Friday, the Birmingham Squadron won on a three-pointer with three seconds left in the game from former New Orleans Pelicans guard Kira Lewis Jr. (32 points). McClung had 30 points to go along with seven rebounds and six assists against the Squadron.
“We are just fed up with losing and wanted to get on a winning streak,” McClung said being sick to his stomach after the Friday night loss. “I’ve been in the G League a while. It’s about us building a rhythm for when the time come.
The Magic will know after Sunday night’s games if they will participate in the main showcase or just play two additional games in front of the general managers.
