New Jersey defeats Orlando 86-74
Orland, Fla.- Courtney Lee, the Magic's first round pick (No. 22), scored 13 points in 33 minutes in his inaugural performance in a Magic uniform, but Orlando couldn't overcome Jaycee Carroll's 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists as the New Jersey Nets defeated the Orlando Magic, 86-74, in the nightcap of Day One in the Orlando Pro Summer League.
The story of the game was how New Jersey dominated the paint, holding a 40-18 edge in points in the paint and out-rebounding the Magic by a margin of 39-28. Trailing 44-38 at halftime, the Magic could only pull within four points, trailing 57-53 in the third quarter, before the Nets started to pull away and extended their lead to 68-56 heading into the final stanza.
New Jersey was paced by Utah State product Carroll, but also had some strong contributions from their highly-touted rookie class. Rookies Brook Lopez (Stanford), Chris Douglas-Roberts (Memphis) and Ryan Anderson (California) all made their debut for the Nets, with C.D.R. leading the way with 15 points, followed by Anderson's 14 and Lopez's 10 off the bench.
Orlando also had a strong effort by Derrick Byars, B.J. Elder and Kevin Kruger, as they scored 15, 14 and 12, respectively. Marcin Gortat added six points and grabbed eight rebounds in the loss.
The Magic will try and even their record tomorrow when they face Oklahoma City in the second game of the three-game Day Two, while New Jersey will try and remain undefeated in the 2008 Orlando Pro Summer League when they open the competition against Miami at the RDV Sportsplex.