ORLANDO, Fla. – Mo Bamba, the former Texas Longhorn and No. 6 overall pick, made quite the statement off the bench in his Wednesday night debut.
Bamba scored twice and blocked a shot during a key 9-0 run in the fourth quarter, finishing with 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in 25 minutes to help the Orlando Magic get the 104-101 win at home over the Miami heat.
Orlando has now won seven of their last eleven against the interstate rival.
“The block – whenever there’s an emphatic block like that and I didn’t mean to block it out of bounds – but it really got us going,’’ Bamba said of his swat of the Richardson layup. “This is exactly what I thought this moment would be. It was a fun game to play in.”
🚨 #NBARooks 1st Bucket THREAD 🚨
Mo Bamba gets to the rack for the @OrlandoMagic!#KiaTipOff18 #PureMagic pic.twitter.com/7gnWsf74FZ
— NBA (@NBA) October 17, 2018
Bamba's 13 points were the most ever scored by an Orlando rookie in their NBA debut. Shaquille O’Neal, who also played the Miami Heat in his NBA debut back on Nov. 6, 1992, scored 12 points.
Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer referenced this earlier this month, but if Mo Bamba can get a three-pointer or two to connect once in a while, the Magic truly drafted the proverbial cherry on top given the constants in Bamba’s rim running and rim protection.
And that’s exactly what he did Wednesday night. Bamba knocked down his first three-pointer of his NBA career late in the third quarter to put Orlando up three.
“He’s a super athlete and he’s so talented,” Magic star Aaron Gordon said of Bamba’s play. “He makes plays where you’re like, ‘Whoa! I don’t even know if I can make that play.’ That lets you know that we’ve got something special in him.”
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