By John Denton Feb. 9, 2017
ORLANDO – Just when the Orlando Magic thought their frustration-filled,
up-and-down season couldn’t possibly baffle them any more than it already has,
along came Thursday’s disappointing finish against Philadelphia.
In a microcosm of the season, Orlando struggled with prosperity and had long
stretches of inefficient and ineffective play. The Magic repeatedly blew leads –
a 15-point advantage in the first quarter, a six-point edge in the third and a
seemingly seven-point lead over the final four minutes.
Seconds after Nikola Vucevic seemed to have rescued Orlando with a go-ahead hook
shot and a blocked shot, Orlando failed to secure a jump ball and Philadelphia’s
T.J. McConnell converted a runner in the lane with 5.8 seconds remaining. That
allowed Philadelphia to escape the Amway Center with a shocking 112-111 defeat
of the Magic.
Orlando led by as much as seven points early in the fourth quarter thanks to a
14-5 burst to open the final period. And the Magic had 109-108 and 111-110 leads
late, but they allowed the Sixers to twice score and walk away with the win.
Nikola Vucevic appeared to have put Orlando in position for the victory with a
clutch hook shot with 26.7 seconds to play. The 7-footer then swatted Ersan
Ilysasova’s shot with 13.2 seconds to play, but the play resulted in a jump
ball. Ilyasova won that jump and McConnell wound up with the ball and his second
game-winner for the Sixers. Orlando (20-35) lost for the third straight game,
while Philadelphia broke a five-game losing streak. The Magic had beaten the
Sixers in the first two meetings of the season.
Evan Fournier scored 24 points, while Nikoila Vucevic chipped in 21 points, 11
rebounds and two blocks for the Magic. Serge Ibaka added 16 points and four
blocks. Dario Saric scored 24 points off the bench for the Sixers. McConnell
scored eight points, but made just four of 10 shots.
Play was stopped for an extended period of time with 4:45 to play when referees
reviewed video footage of Magic forward Serge Ibaka’s left elbow hitting
Philadelphia’s Nerlens Noel under the chin. The two players jawed at one another
and then had to be separated on two different occasions. Referee Bill Kennedy,
the crew chief, hit both players with technical fouls.
For roughly a month now, Magic coach Frank Vogel has tried showing his Magic
examples of Philadelphia and Miami as teams that hit their strides despite poor
starts to the season. Philadelphia won 10 of 13 at one point in late December
and early February to give hope to a fan base that has been subjected to years
of losing.
Then, there is the Heat, who incredibly ripped off 12 straight victories after
starting the season 11-30. Vogel thinks the same thing is possible in Orlando if
the squad can finally solve its defensive issues and share the ball on the
offensive end.
“That’s what we’re preaching right now and it absolutely can be done. I had a
team in Indiana a couple of years ago when Paul George was out and we were four
or five games out of the playoffs the entire year and we won eight or nine of
our last 10 and we got ourselves a tie with the eighth seed. We ended up not
making it because of a tiebreaker. But we’re going to stay in this fight.
There’s still a lot of basketball to be played. We’ll take it one game at a time
and try to get back into this thing.”
Orlando was without its best defender, small forward Aaron Gordon, on Thursday
because of a bone bruise in his right foot. The third-year player suffered the
injury in Tuesday’s loss in Houston and a MRI on Wednesday showed the bruise.
The Magic do not feel the injury is a serious one and are holding out hope that
Gordon can return to game action by Saturday.
Gordon’s absence triggered a couple of lineup moves by Vogel. Mario Hezonja, the
No. 5 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, started for the first time all season in place
of Gordon. Meanwhile, Vogel started veteran C.J. Watson at point guard and moved
Elfrid Payton into a reserve role for the second time this season. Payton, the
only Magic player to appear in all 55 games, has started 34 games and has come
off the bench 21 times.
Thursday’s game was the third of the season between the Magic and Sixers.
Orlando got its first victory of the season in Philadelphia on Nov. 1. Then, a
day after a gut-wrenching, heart-breaking loss in Memphis, the Magic went into
Philadelphia on Dec. 2 and won again.
Orlando’s herky-jerky schedule will take them back to Texas on Friday so that it
can play the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night. The Magic were just in Texas on
Monday and Tuesday to face the Houston Rockets. The league has worked to reduce
travel this season, but with Orlando’s three separate trips to Texas to face the
Spurs, Rockets and Mavericks, clearly there are still some kinks to work out.
The Magic will be in South Florida on Monday to face the rival Miami Heat for a
third time this season. They will then play San Antonio at the Amway Center on
Wednesday in the final game before the break for the NBA All-Star Game.
Down seven at the half following a highly disappointing first 24 minutes, the
Magic played with much more precision in the third quarter. They surged ahead by
as much as six points, but allowed the Sixers to close the period with a 15-8
run. That stretch had the Magic down 85-84 heading into the fourth period.
The game started well enough for the Magic, who breezed to a 21-6 start thanks
to stellar starts from Fournier and Vucevic. But just as easily as the Magic
built the lead, they lost it in a second quarter that was disastrous on both
ends of the floor. By halftime, Orlando incredibly found itself in a 55-48 hole
against a Philly team it once led by as much as 15 points.
The Sixers outscored the Magic 35-23 in the second quarter to snatch away the
lead. Not only did Philadelphia make half of its 28 shots with four 3-pointers
in the second period, its defensive hustle also held the Magic to 35 percent
shooting and forced six turnovers.
Saric, a Magic draft pick in 2014, hustled his way to 12 points, four rebounds
and two 3-pointers in the first half. During one stretch, he buried a 3-pointer,
converted one of two free throws and then drilled another three of a rebound.
Struggling with his rhythm after missing two weeks with a heel injury, Fournier
looked ready to produce a breakout performance with his strong start. He had 13
of Orlando’s first 21 points by making all four of his shots and three free
throws with two 3-pointers. However, he scored just four points the rest of the
half after missing eight of his next nine shots.
Vucevic, who has a long history of success against a Philadelphia team that
picked him in the first round of the 2001 NBA Draft, had eight points and six
rebounds in the game’s first 24 minutes.
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the
Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do
not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations
staff, partners or sponsors.
Media Content:
http://www.nba.com/magic/news/orlando-magic-philadelphia-76ers-postgame-report-de
nton-20170209
Media Keywords: NBA, Sports, Orlando Magic, Orlando Magic
Media Thumbnail:
http://i.cdn.turner.com/drp/nba/magic/sites/default/files/fournier1_760_20170209.
jpg
Taxonomy: john denton
Story Link:
http://www.nba.com/magic/news/orlando-magic-philadelphia-76ers-postgame-report-de
nton-20170209
