Long Island Nets lose in Florida as Milton Doyle struggles offensively

If you read the stat sheet quickly, you’d think Milton Doyle didn’t have such a bad game in the Long Island Nets 100-90 loss to the Lakeland Magic in central Florida Saturday. He had 21 points, which is his scoring average for the season and hit three 3-pointers even if he took nine.

But if you read a little further on, you’d see the 6’4” combo guard had 10 turnovers, and needed 20 shots to get those 21 points. Inconsistency has been an issue for the Loyola Chicago product all year long.

Doyle was 8-of-20 overall and 3-of-9 for the game. He started slowly but as he has all season hit his stride in the fourth. On the plus side, he had three blocks and five steals, both season highs.

The Magic (11-5) are one of the G-League’s tougher outs. They have a five-game win streak which ties the Magic’s longest streak from early November. Tonight’s win helped the Magic finish their six-game home stretch in December with a 5-1 record. The 10-point victory was the second largest margin of victory for the Magic in their inaugural season.

From the start of the game, Rodney Purvis carried over the momentum from his game-winning shot last game. Purvis hit an early three-pointer to get the Magic going after a slow start, which ended up being one of his four three-pointers on the night. Purvis had 27 points, five assists and two rebounds. His 27 points made for his ninth 20-point game of the season.

After playing with the Orlando Magic this week, Khem Birch had his eighth double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

The Lakeland Magic also shined on the defensive side of the ball. forcing Long Island into 28 turnovers. They recorded 16 steals.

The Nets had a very balanced offensive attack as every player on the Nets’ roster scored at some point in the game. The team ended up with 3 double-digit scorers and led the rebounding battle, 42-38.

Jeremy Senglin scored 12 points off the bench and added in four assists, helping to lead an aborted fourth quarter comeback. The other double digit scorer for the Nets was J.J. Moore with 11 points. Jacob Wiley, the Nets two-way player, scored seven off the bench.

• Game Report: Lakeland Magic 100, Long Island Nets 90 (with Video) - G-League
• Full Game (Video) - G-League