Osceola holds first opponent under 100 in 115-98 win
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Daeqwon Plowden got the start, chipped in 25 points and helped the Osceola Magic hold their first opponent under 100 points in Thursday's 115-98 win over the Memphis Hustle. PHOTO/KATIE WILLIAMS
When it comes to the way the Osceola Magic have been playing lately, it's sort of, "Like father, like son" thing.
Matching the hot start of their parent affiliate, the Orlando Magic, the Osceola Magic jumped out to a 27-6 lead and never looked back on Thursday night, beating the Memphis Hustle, 115-98, in an NBA G League game at the Silver Spurs Arena.
The win, Osceola's third in a row and sixth in their last seven, pushed the Magic to 6-3 on the season and put them in a virtual first-place tie with Rio Grande Vipers, the Houston Rockets affiliate, in the Southern Division.
"We just came off a long and grueling road trip so this was a satisfying win," Osceola Coach Dylan Murphy said. "I was really pleased with the way we fought through the fatigue. We're starting to get to know each other and are starting to play with some confidence."
Osceola used some red-hot shooting from behind the arc and some stifling defense to build a 31-14 lead after one quarter. Daeqwon Plowden led a three-point barrage for the Magic hitting three of Osceola's eight three-pointers in the quarter. While almost everything was dropping for Osceola, the Magic were holding Memphis to 28% shooting in the period (8-28) and forcing seven turnovers.
Plowden credited his teammates for his big game. "My team has confidence in me and we have confidence in each other," Plowden said. "When one of us gets hot, we look for him on the floor."
Although Plowden and the team started off red hot, the Magic shooting would grow cold in the second period. Osceola would miss on all but two of their final 17 shots of the quarter as Memphis out-scored the Magic, 35-25 in the period to claw back to within 10 at 59-49. The Magic was just 5-of-18 beyond the three-point line in the period and saw their overall shooting percentage in the half drop to 36% for the game.
Memphis would cut the gap to six early in the third period, something Murphy expected. "This is professional basketball and you simply are not going to get ahead by 30 points and stay there," he said. "We knew they were going to make a run. The key was to stop it."
After Memphis cut the gap to single digits, Mac McClung scored eight quick points in a 10-2 run to push the lead back to 16, 74-58, McClung's play would spur a run as Osceola out-scored Memphis 37-28 in the period to build a 19-point advantage after three.
Early in the fourth it was all Magic as Osceola would push the lead to 30; a vicious throw down dunk by Trevelin Queen made it 110-80 with 7:16 left to go.
McClung led all Magic scorers with 28 points. Plowden added 25 and Queen, who won G-League Player of the Week honors, poured in 20 and added 10 rebounds and a team-high six assists.
Osceola finished the game shooting 39.6%, hitting 38 of 96 shots. Murphy said the high number of three point attempts Osceola attempted in the game (43) was due to Memphis' style of play.
"They really pack the middle," Murphy said. "So the plan was to drive the lane, draw two players and kick the ball out."
GG Jackson had 24 for the Hustle that fell to 3-7.
Osceola will will have four days off before facing the Texas Legends Tuesday.
NOTES -- Things would get a little testy late in the game. Osceola's Alex Morales was ejected for a flagrant 2 foul. One of three flagrant fouls called in the game.
The Magic played their second straight game without the services of Jett Howard, the No. 11 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft and their second pick after Anthony Black, for undisclosed reasons. Howard averaged 19.7 points in three games since being assigned to Osceola during the last road trip.
Thursday's announced attendance at the Spurs was 1,442.
