You can’t beat many magicians if you let them pick all the tricks to be played, a maxim the Portland Trailblazers verified against the Orlando Magic in NBA action tonight. Orlando turned out to have more than enough tricks at hand to prevail, scratching out a 115-112 win thanks to a buzzer-beating three by Blazers nemesis Desmond Bane. Check out Kevin Lawler’s early recap of the game, then look here for a few additional observations:

Who?

After a 26-24 first period didn’t go his way, Blazers Coach Tiago Splitter tried some sleight of hand by starting the second quarter with Robert Williams III, Duop Reath, Shaedon Sharpe, Toumani Kamara and Deni Avdija. It wasn’t exactly magical–that group was outscored 9-5 in just under four minutes of playing time–but it was intriguing, to say the leas

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