ORLANDO, Florida, (Reuters) – San Antonio’s Tim Duncan had a night to forget as the Spurs slumped to a 110-84 loss to the Orlando Magic on Wednesday.
Duncan, a 12-times All Star and three-times NBA Finals MVP, finished with five points and was 1-for-10 from the field, the worst shooting performance of his career.
“Just a bad game, mostly myself,” Duncan told reporters.
“It kind of starts with me. We got caught in a rotation early and missed some shots, but I just didn’t play well.”
After the Charlotte Bobcats snapped Orlando’s eight-game win streak on Sunday, the Magic responded with an impressive performance against the Spurs.
Vince Carter had a game-high 24 points, with eight assists, and Rashard Lewis scored 20 as the Magic opened up a big lead in the third quarter and were able to rest their starters for much of the fourth.
“It’s not about who makes the most points, it’s who has the open shot gets the ball,” Carter said.
“I think we’ve done a great job of exploiting different situations throughout the course of the game. We knew Dwight (Howard) probably wouldn’t have a great night scoring, but it was important for us to give him the ball to draw those double teams.”
The Magic (48-21) led by 10 at halftime and outscored San Antonio 28-16 in the third to put the game out of reach. Orlando’s scoring leader Howard finished with nine points.
Richard Jefferson had 20 points for the Spurs (40-26), who entered the game having won eight of their last nine.
The defeat dropped the Spurs one spot to seventh in the Western Conference, a game behind the Phoenix Suns. All-Star point guard Tony Parker is still out with a broken finger but the team have managed to go 4-2 without him.
The Magic are in second place in the East, six games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers.
