In front of a loud crowd of a couple thousand area middle schoolers, the Osceola Magic ran its record to 3-0 on the young NBA G League season with a 117-111 win over the Mexico City Capitanes in the rare 11 a.m. tipoff Thursday.
Annually, the team invites local students with good attendance and no conduct issues to catch a game -- and they were loud on Thursday. Osceola center Colin Castleton gave them much to cheer about, scoring 31 points on 10-of-11 shooting. Fellow Orlando Magic two-way player Jamal Cain added a double-double (19 points, 11 rebounds).
The game was close throughout the first three quarters, with 24 lead changes. But, like they did in Saturday's big win over the Texas Legends, they won with a fourth-quarter flurry. Phillip Wheeler had eight points off the bench in the fourth quarter, and Javonte Smart poured in 15, thanks to five three-pointers, three coming in the last 12 minutes.
“The ball wasn’t going in for us in the first three quarters. We felt like we were missing layups, missing threes and missing free throws, but that’s part of the game," Osceola Coach Dylan Murphy said. "We cannot let that affect your ability to win the game. We turned up on the glass, turned up our defense and eventually made a couple of shots. Phillip hit big shots. Javonte made some big shots. Once we built a little bit of a lead, we were able to hit our free throws and hang on.”
A five-game home stand to start the year will conclude this weekend against the Birmingham Squadron. Friday is Military Appreciation Night (7 p.m. tipoff), get there early and get a free pint glass courtesy of Krush Brau Park. Sunday is Orlando Magic Night; come for the 3 p.m. tipoff and receive a replica reversable jersey.
