The phrase “it can’t get any worse” usually means it’s about to get a lot worse.
Danillo Gallinari and JaVale McGee led the Denver Nuggets with 17 points a piece in a 101-74 beat down of the Orlando Magic Sunday night.
If it wasn’t already bad enough losing by 27 points, the Magic lost Jameer Nelson in the first quarter due to a calf injury.
Orlando is already without All-Star center Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu for the remainder of the season.
Ryan Anderson led all scorers with 24 points and is finalizing his case for the NBA’s most improved player this year.
The Magic were out scored 57-30 in the second half.
“We didn’t do our defensive assignments,” Magic’s Jason Richardson said. “We didn’t have energy. We didn’t do anything how we’ve been playing the past five or six games.”
Glen Davis finished with 14 points and was the only Magic player other then Anderson to score in double figures.
The Magic have lost three in a row and are (4-6) in their last 10.
“I don’t think it had anything to do with running out of gas,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. “Four times a guy’s going to start up to set a pick and back cut for a lob? It’s absurd. We ran out of focus, we ran out of competitiveness. That’s what we ran out of.”
If Orlando is to lose their final home game to the Charlotte Bobcats Wednesday night and the Knicks beat the Clippers the Magic would drop to the 7th seed and play the Miami Heat in the first round.
