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By the fourth quarter of a 125-120 loss to the Orlando Magic on Dec. 1, Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan was baffled.

The Magic seemingly had a hex on both baskets. At one end of the court, they couldn’t miss from close range, shooting 77% inside the restricted area.

And somehow that wasn’t the Bulls’ greatest problem. Because on their end, they couldn’t finish within the restricted area if the entire game depended on it — which it did.

Maybe it wasn’t a hex. Maybe Goga Bitadze had figured out how to shape-shift, stretching his already expansive arms like taffy to envelop the air around and above the Magic’s rim. Or perhaps the Magic were gifted with some preternatural ability to predict a shot’s trajectory before it was released.

Those wo

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