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Magic's Nikola Vucevic: Stuffs stat sheet against Cavs on Tuesday

Vucevic collected eight points (3-7 FG, 2-2 FT), five rebounds, three assists and a steal over 18 minutes in Wednesday's 117-102 preseason loss to the Cavs.

Analysis:

As was the case in Monday's preseason opener against the Grizzlies, Serge Ibaka's (knee) absence afforded spots in the starting five to both Vucevic and Bismack Biyombo, who are expected to compete for the starting center job throughout the exhibition slate. Vucevic outperformed Biyombo by a notable margin on the stat sheet and did it in considerably lesser time as well, as he logged 18 minutes to the latter's 26. While Biyombo could conceivably snag the top role heading into the regular season based largely on his defensive prowess, Vucevic, who averaged a solid 18.2 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists last season, has too much offensive potential not to garner significant floor time, even in a reserve role.

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