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By John DentonApril 8, 2016
ORLANDO – Asked prior to Friday’s game to sum up his Orlando Magic’s topsy-turvy play, head coach Scott Skiles disappointingly shook his head and said that it felt like three seasons all rolled into one.
None of those seasons, of course, will end in a playoff run. But for one night at least, an inspired Magic team went out and played like the one that thrived early in the season and made the postseason seem like a possibility early on.
Little did Skiles know it some 100 minutes prior to Friday’s game, but his description of the Magic’s disappointing and uneven season would also describe what would take place a few hours later at the Amway Center.
Sluggish at the start, the Magic played exceptionally well throughout the guts of the game only to lose the lead and looking as if they were on their way to another heartbreaking loss in a season full of them. Reserve point guard C.J. Watson gave the Magic a late lift after they lost Victor Oladipo and center Nikola Vucevic and guard Evan Fournier came through in the clutch in Orlando’s 112-109 thrilling defeat of the rival Miami Heat.
Miami’s Joe Johnson hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 30 seconds to play, but Orlando to the ball to Fournier, who came curling off a screen and found Vucevic for the game-winning dunk with 20.7 seconds to play.
From there, Orlando avoided a dagger when Johnson missed a floater in the lane. Then, seldom-used forward Devyn Marble made the play of his NBA career when he dived to the floor to steal Luol Deng’s pass on an out of bounds play.
Fournier then iced the game with a free throw with two seconds to play. Fournier finished with 28 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while Vucevic had 29 points on 12 of 20 shooting. The dunk was his third game-winning shot of the season with the previous two coming in the final seconds.
Orlando came into Friday’s Sunshine State showdown having lost 14 of the past 15 games in the series, including seven straight at the Amway Center. Finally, at long last, that streak is over for a Magic team that very much needed a big victory of any kind.
A disappointed Skiles said as much prior to the game.
“Right now, we’re all frustrated by (the way the season has unfolded) because we felt like we were really moving in the right direction,” Skiles said. “We’ve had a hard time really pin-pointing exactly what happened to us. It was a little bit schedule-related (during the six-week swoon in January and early February) because the opponents got a little tougher.
“But a team shouldn’t be 19-13 and then without any major injuries or anything have a stretch where they go 2-15,” Skiles continued. “That’s so inconsistent and there’s something that’s there that knocked us off our season and we struggled to get back.”
Miami (46-33) suffered a loss that could cost it the No. 3 seed in the playoffs.
After the Heat had drawn to within one of the Magic with three minutes to play, a key sequence came to decide the game. As he tried to swipe the ball away, Vucevic accidentally whacked Whiteside in the face. After point guard Elfrid Payton converted a layup as he was fouled, Whiteside angrily objected to referee Josh Tiven, who whistled a technical foul. Free throws by Evan Fournier and Payton gave Orlando a 102-97 lead with 3:08 to play.
Orlando lost Oladipo midway through the third quarter just as he was heating up. He had seven of his 13 points in the third quarter before he was whacked across the face by a Hassan Whiteside forearm and he needed help to the locker room. Oladipo needed six stitches to close a gash above his left eye and did not return to the game.
The Magic made a couple of changes to their starting lineup – one necessitated by injury and one in an effort to bring more firepower. Aaron Gordon suffered a concussion on Wednesday when he was hit in the left side of his head by an accidental elbow and Ersan Ilyasova started at power forward. Vucevic, a reserve the past 17 games because of a groin strain and being brought back slowly, returned to his usual starting gig at center. It was the first start since March 5 for Vucevic – Orlando’s leading scorer and rebounder a second straight season.
The Magic and Heat will square off again on Sunday night in Miami in the final meeting of the season. Orlando’s final home game will be Monday night against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Magic will close out the regular season on Wednesday in Charlotte against the Hornets.
Orlando played well in the third period, but allowed the Heat to hang onto an 80-79 lead heading into the fourth following the injury to Oladipo. The guard drilled a 3-pointer and converted a dunk to put Orlando ahead 73-68, but seconds later he was whacked in the face by Whiteside and had to be helped to the locker room.
Vucevic had trouble hiding his disappointment over not starting Wednesday’s game and he took advantage of being back in the lineup in a first half where Orlando trailed 55-53 at intermission. The 7-footer didn’t say away from facing the towering Whiteside, making six of his 11 shots and five of six free throws en route to a 17-point first half.
Determined to play better following a poor outing on Wednesday night, Fournier responded in Friday’s first half. Not only did he make four of five shots and five of six free throws for 14 points, he chipped in five rebounds and three assists early on.
Miami gave Orlando fits early on on the glass, owning a 29-17 rebounding advantage. One sequence that summed up the Magic’s woes in the first half came when Vucevic stayed home on defense on a drive to the hoop only to see Luol Deng come from the back side for a follow-up basket. On the next possession, Vucevic came over to help on a drive and Whiteside (eight points and 10 rebounds in the first half) tipped in the missed try.
The Heat grabbed 12 offensive boards in the first half, giving them 11 more field goal attempts and allowing them to hold a 14-3 advantage in second-chance points in the first 24 minutes.
