BY AYODELE ODUMADE AT THE O2 ARENA LONDON

The Toronto Raptors showed why they are number two seeds in the Eastern Conference as they narrowly beat Orlando Magic 106-103 in overtime, in one of the most exciting NBA games in London recent times. When the game was announced there were groans that both teams were not box office material. Both teams prove the doubters wrong. 

Victor Oladipo of the Magic came out fast as he scored a three pointer within the first few minutes and set the tone for the game.  He ended up as the highest scorer on the night with 27 points with five of them from down town. Kyle Lowry of the Raptors was not far behind him as he scored 24 points with 7 assists.

The Raptors were delighted as the last time they played in London in 2011, they were beaten in Triple overtime by the New Jersey Nets. Their coach Dwane Casey said: “ Credit to my team. They guarded their pick and rolls on one to ones.  Cory (Joseph) came off the bench with a lot of juice. His energy this year has been unbelievable.”  Joseph scored 19 points and had 4 assists.

This was Orlando Magic’s sixth straight loss and their coach Scott Skiles was not pleased about it. “They were having their way with us in the first half. In the second half we were much better. Tonight is an example of our inconsistency. You cannot put this on one individual.”

Orlando trailed for most of the game but drew level at 96-96 via Oladipo’s jumper with just 32 seconds to go. He had a chance to win with only a second of the game left, but he could not manage it and the game went into overtime. From then on the Raptors found a second win and successfully closed out the game. Oladipo said: “It is a tough loss. It really sucks, honestly. We wanted to win that game. We all really wanted to win that game.”  Orlando have fallen to 20-19 after a promising start to the season. The Raptors improved to 25-15.