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By John Denton
Dec. 2, 2015
MINNEAPOLIS – As impressive as the Orlando Magic’s recent three-game home stand was – and it was plenty impressive considering how they rolled to three victories by a combined 52-point margin – head coach Scott Skiles thought it would be even more telling of his team if it could keep it up on the road Tuesday night.
Despite an inexplicable hiccup in the second half that saw them squander a 17-point lead, the Magic showed a newfound toughness when it mattered most to gut out an impressive victory far away from the safe confines of the Amway Center.
Displaying the same sort of grit and pinpoint execution that they did all of last week, the Magic repeatedly gashed Minnesota early on and they brazenly held firm in the tense final minutes for a 96-93 defeat of the Timberwolves.
“I feel like last year we would have lost that game,’’ said Magic guard Victor Oladipo, who had two clutch scoring plays after Minnesota knotted the game at 87. “We’re growing up a lot, but we’ve just got to build on it.’’
Orlando (10-8) led by 13 at the half and by as many as 17 points midway through the third quarter before the bottom nearly fell out of their feel-good run all together.
The Magic saw Minnesota (8-10) claw back to tie the game with 4:40 to play. But that didn’t seem to phase an Orlando team playing with a newfound mixture of toughness and confidence.
Five straight points by Oladipo – the first basket being set up by a nifty pass from point guard Elfrid Payton – broke the tie and gave the Magic a bit of a cushion.
Minnesota seemed to be poised to knot the game in the final seconds. However, Orlando caught a huge break when second-year forward Andrew Wiggins missed the second of two free throws with 5.6 seconds to play that could have knotted the score again. It was Wiggins who banked a shot at the end of regulation two weeks ago to force OT against the Magic.
Wiggins, who scored 27 points on Tuesday, had his 3-point heave at the buzzer partially blocked by Magic defensive ace Aaron Gordon, preserving the Orlando victory.
“We’re glad to get the win, for sure, but we’re not happy with how we just kind of stopped doing what was working. Our offense and defense let down at the same time and we started fouling,’’ Skiles said. “With the 24-second shot clock, four or five bad possessions on either side of the ball and it’s a 12-point swing in the snap of a finger. But we got ourselves steadied and we made a couple of big plays to get the win.’’
Oladipo Recalls Dinner He Had with Flip Saunders in 2013
MINNEAPOLIS – When Victor Oladipo learned of the shocking death of Minnesota Timberwolves’ head coach and President of Basketball Operations Flip Saunders back in October it hit the Orlando Magic standout hard because of the bond the two formed in 2013.
Saunders and the T-Wolves announced in August that he was suffering from Hodgkins Lymphoma. By September, a complication forced Saunders to be hospitalized and it was announced that he wouldn’t be returning for the season. And on Oct. 25, Saunders died from the disease, stunning and saddening the entire NBA.
In the weeks before the 2013 NBA Draft, Oladipo got to know Saunders, who desperately hoped that the guard would still be available when Minnesota picked No. 9. In addition to trying to trade up to nab Oladipo, Saunders all but promised the guard that he would pick him if he were still available.
“Actually, I went out to eat with him, so I got the opportunity to sit and talk with him,” Oladipo said of his trip to Minnesota to work out for Saunders and the Wolves. “He told me some words that I’ll never forget. He was a great person, a great coach and great for basketball.
“Getting to know him you see what a great person he was and how he was a great judge of people,” Oladipo continued. “He just told me that there was something special about me and that I should never lose that and that I should continue to play with a chip on my shoulder. He told me that I have what it takes to be great someday – definitely something he said that I’ll never forget.”
Oladipo was ultimately chosen second overall by the Magic. That forced Saunders to pull off a draft-day, swapping No. 9 pick Trey Burke for Shabazz Muhammad (No. 14) and Gorgui Dieng (No. 21).
IMPACT ON HEZONJA: When the Magic moved Oladipo into a reserve role three games ago – a switch that resulted in three straight victories – head coach Scott Skiles feared what effect the decision would have on rookie guard/forward Mario Hezonja.
As expected, the prized rookie’s playing time has dropped off dramatically over the past three games with Evan Fournier and Oladipo playing the bulk of the minutes at shooting guard.
Skiles was very encouraged by Hezonja’s talent, competitiveness and understanding of the game during a successful preseason with the Magic. While insisting that there is no “permanence” to the Magic’s new rotations, Skiles is hopeful that Hezonja can use his time playing fewer minutes to observe and learn from others playing his position.
“So far (so good), he went really hard yesterday in practice and he was upbeat (Tuesday) morning,” Skiles said. “One of the things that we’ve talked about as a staff is that we’re hopeful that him taking a bit of a breather and watching some games early on that it’s not necessarily a negative. He wants to do well so badly that he puts a lot of pressure on himself, which we like about him. It’s one of the reasons that we really like him. And, again, there’s no permanence to anything. As (everyone) knows, you’re one sprained ankle away from going from playing 5 minutes to playing 25 minutes. We haven’t buried him or anything like that. We’re going to keep working with him and when we get opportunities we’re going to get him out there in games.”
GARNETT ON KOBE: With Sunday’s announcement that Kobe Bryant plans to retire at the end of this season it ensures that Kevin Garnett will keep his title of being the player in the NBA with the most service time. This is Garnett’s 21st season in the NBA after being drafted fifth overall by the Timberwolves in the 1995 NBA Draft.
Garnett, 39, is the NBA’s third-oldest player, trailing only teammate Andre Miller (exactly two months younger) and Tim Duncan (3 1/2 weeks older than Garnett).
Garnett said he didn’t find the Bryant retirement news “sad” and instead chose to celebrate the guard’s illustrious career. Bryant’s Lakers beat Garnett’s Timberwolves in the 2004 Western Conference Finals and he topped Garnett’s Celtics in the 2010 NBA Finals in seven games.
“I met Kobe in 1996 when we played the (Philadelphia) Sixers in The Spectrum and I could tell that he was exuberant and enthusiastic about being in this league,” Garnett said of meeting the then-high school star for the first time. “He’s been nothing short of that. All of his great accomplishments stand for themselves and he’s set his mark on the game. It’s not sad because you think of a (basketball) world without Kobe Bryant and that says a lot. He’s made his mark on this game and he’s made his mark on the Lakers, the (shooting guard) position and sports. It’s great to have somebody like him in our game.”
