By John DentonNov. 4, 2015
HOUSTON – Maybe it was only a coincidence that the finest game of Evan Fournier’s young NBA career came a day after the deadline passed to sign a contract extension. Or maybe the versatile guard was finally free of the worries about his future and able to cut his game lose on Tuesday night in New Orleans.
Fournier, who turned 23 years old last week, was eligible for sign an extension with the Magic as long as the contract was finalized before Tuesday’s midnight deadline. Talks were held between the Magic and Fournier’s representatives, but the sides could not come to an agreement – meaning that Fournier will play out this season on his rookie contract and then he’ll become a restricted free agent on July 1. Orlando will have the right to match any offer sheet that Fournier signs with another team if they so choose.
Not long after the deadline passed, Fournier went out on Tuesday and played the best game of his career to lift Orlando to its first victory of the season. Fournier finished with a career-best 30 points – two points more than the 28 he scored last November against the Knicks. Fournier sealed the victory with two late 3-pointers and as he walked to the Magic bench he let out an emotional, guttural scream.
Afterward, he said his focus was entirely on helping the Magic taste success for the first time this season and he didn’t give one thought to his contract status. “I mean I always have the mindset when I step on the court – try to win and play as hard as I can,” said Fournier, who made 12 of 20 shots and four of nine 3-pointers against the Pelicans. “The contract will take care of itself, but what matters is winning.”
TAKING CHARGE: Scott Skiles has a long history of defensive success in the NBA and one area where he thought the Magic could make dramatic improve on that end of the floor was taking more charges.
They have done just that, drawing six charges in the first four games. Victor Oladipo leads the team with three taken so far, while C.J. Watson has stepped in for two charges and Fournier has taken one. The Magic took three charges in Tuesday’s win – the final one coming when Watson took an elbow to the mouth that caused a cut that required five stitches to close.
“Any charge really gets everyone going,” said Magic center Nikola Vucevic, who appreciates the charges because he is usually the team’s last line of defense at the rim. “Those (charges) don’t happen too often, but when someone takes one and sacrifices themselves for the team, it gets everybody going and fired up about it.
“The one that C.J. took was a tough one for him, but I think he kept all of his teeth,” Vucevic added. “Evan tried to take one and he almost got dunked on. I wish he did (get dunked on).”
Because it is so difficult to defend wing players and little-to-no contact is allowed, taking a charge has been one of the few ways for defenders can impede drives to the hoop.
Among their many struggles defensively last season, Orlando was one of the worst teams in the league in taking charges. Oladipo led the team in charges drawn with eight, but that ranked just 33rd in the NBA. Former Magic guard Willie Green (four) and second-year forward Aaron Gordon (three) were the only other Orlando players to rank in the NBA’s top 125 in charges taken. To put that into perspective, Sacramento center DeMarcus Cousins led the NBA in charges taken last season with 34. Monta Ellis, formerly with Dallas and now with the Indiana Pacers, led all guards with 29 charges taken.
Skiles was delighted to see the Magic willing to step in and take so many charges in Tuesday’s victory.
“We took some timely charges, which we haven’t done yet. C.J. paid for on with some stitches, but that was a big play,” Skiles said. “As I’ve said many times, in those tight games guys have to step up and make plays and guys did that.”
FANTASTIC FOURNIER: It’s no secret that Skiles is a big fan of Fournier, largely because of the versatility that the guard/forward provides in his diverse skill set.
When Skiles went back and studied Orlando’s games from last season, he determined that the Magic were better with Fournier on the floor in a variety of ways. One, Fournier brings some much-needed perimeter shooting to the team and that aids Orlando’s spacing on the floor. Also, the 6-foot-7 wing player is a skilled passer, a willing driver and he’s surprisingly efficient at the rim against bigger defenders.
“He’s one of our better finishers – probably a lot of people don’t realize that – if not our best finisher,” Skiles said. “When you can shoot the way that he can shoot and drive the way that he does, making the decisions on when to do which one can sometimes be difficult. But he made really good decisions (on Tuesday) and we trust his decisions. We need him to not only make threes, but also drive to the basket because that’s one of the weaknesses of our team.”
