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By John DentonDec. 30, 2015
ORLANDO – Sloppy and sluggish most of a sleepy Wednesday night at the Amway Center, the Orlando Magic could have used a record-setting performance from a point guard.
That it just so happened to be the 25-year anniversary of former point guard and current head coach Scott Skiles setting some NBA history in a Magic uniform on Dec. 30, 1990 only added to the intrigue of a night when Orlando desperately sought a spark.
Orlando lost hobbled point guard Elfrid Payton (illness) early in the game, but got a late lift from standout center Nikola Vucevic – both with his scoring and his passing – as the Magic rallied past Brooklyn 100-93.
The Magic (19-13) trailed 93-92 inside a minute when Vucevic took the ball in the post, drew a double-team and found a cutting Tobias Harris for a layup that put them into the lead with 45 seconds to play.
From there, Brooklyn’s Jarrett Jack shot an airball and struggling guard Victor Oladipo buried two clutch free throws with 16.6 seconds remaining.
Orlando, which has won seven of its last nine games, improved to 13-5 since Nov. 25 – the best record in the Eastern Conference over that time period. Also, the Magic moved to 10-5 in December. The last time they had a 10-win month was February 2012 when they went 11-4. The last time the Magic had a 10-win December was 2008 when they went 12-3.
Vucevic came into Wednesday riding a streak of six consecutive 20-point performances – the second-longest active streak in the NBA. Over those six games he averaged 23.7 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists while shooting 58.8 percent from the floor.
The 7-footer had trouble shaking free for shots most of the night, but he rallied in the final 12 minutes and finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and three assists. He had eight points and the big assist to Harris in the fourth.
On a night when they needed scoring and playmaking, Evan Fournier gave the Magic 17 points and five assists – of them coming in the second half. Harris had 12 points and Aaron Gordon scored 10 points and blocked two shots off the bench.
Magic guard Victor Oladipo confidently stroked his first shot of the night – a 3-pointer from the left win – but then he fell back into the shooting struggles that have haunted him for nearly a month. The cat-quick guard struggled to convert both at the rim and from the perimeter, missing his next six shot attempts. He finished with 12 points on three of 11 shooting.
Brook Lopez, who was badly outplayed by Vucevic in Brooklyn two weeks ago, had 24 points and 15 rebounds. Bojan Bogdanovic added 20 points for Brooklyn, which fell to 9-23. It was Dec. 30, 1990 when Skiles – then a point guard for the Magic in their second year of existence – handed out a NBA-record 30 assists in the 155-116 rout of the Denver Nuggets. Skiles’ mark has stood the test of test, going 25 years without anyone even approaching a record that may never be broken.
Orlando beat the Nets 105-82 in Brooklyn on Dec. 14 – a game that sparked a three-game winning streak and a stretch of five victories in six games.
The Magic leave on Thursday for a short, but very challenging road trip over the next five nights. Orlando plays in Washington (Friday), in Cleveland (Saturday) and in suburban Detroit (Monday). The Magic are 0-2 against both the Wizards and the Cavaliers this season and will be playing the vastly improved Pistons for the first time this season.
Payton, who has never missed a basketball at any level because of an injury, tried to play through injury and illness on Wednesday, but he was lifted just five minutes into the game. Payton, who was still healing from a left ankle injury suffered two weeks ago, sprained his right ankle in Wednesday’s rout of New Orleans. He also missed Wednesday morning’s shoot-around session because of an illness.
Skiles said before the game that he and Athletic Trainer Keon Weise were on the fence about playing Payton, but the decision was made to lift the point guard from the game early in the night.
Down seven points at the break, the Magic made a charge in the third quarter to within three of the lead, but they couldn’t maintain it. Orlando’s defense was much better after halftime, forcing six turnovers in the third and it headed into the fourth trailing the Nets 73-68. That was potentially troubling considering that the Magic came into Wednesday just 4-8 when trailing after three periods.
Orlando trailed 52-45 at the half, largely because of struggles on both ends of the floor. Skiles sensed it early, turning to substitutes for an energy boost just four minutes into the game.
The Magic shot just 39 percent in the first half – a huge departure from the past 10 games when the Magic led the NBA in both field goal percentage and 3-point shooting. Two of Orlando’s best players of late – Vucevic and Fournier – struggled mightily to find their rhythm early in the game. Vucevic scored just four points on two-of-five shooting because of double-teams and Fournier (one-of-seven in the first half) couldn’t make the Nets pay.
A big part of the problem was eight turnovers – three of which came off the hands of Oladipo in transition. Those miscues fueled the Brooklyn break and led to 10 Nets’ points. Oladipo made his first shot, but then missed the next four tries and turned the ball three times.
Orlando had trouble slowing down Lopez (15 points) and Bogdanovic (11 points) in the first half.
