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By John DentonDec. 28, 2015
ORLANDO – Nearly inseparable friends off the court, Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier seemed to have eyes only for one another on Monday night. That was a very good thing for the Orlando Magic considering the remarkable chemistry between the two standout players.
Vucevic and Fournier, who have dressing stalls next to one another in the Magic locker room and both speak French, came into Monday’s game having assisted to one or the other 43 times this season. At one point in the third quarter on Monday it looked like they might match that total considering the way they found one other to carve up the New Orleans Pelicans.
Determined to get the Magic back on track following Saturday’s frustrating loss to the Miami Heat, Vucevic scored 28 points and tied his career high with seven assists, while Fournier added 20 points and four assists in Orlando’s 104-89 pounding of the Pelicans.
Of Vucevic’s seven assists, four went to Fournier – twice for layups and twice for 3-pointers. And of Fournier’s four assists, two set up baskets for the Magic’s surging center.
The dazzling play of Vucevic and Fournier helped the Magic (18-13) shoot 54.9 percent and hand out 28 assists – ball movement that was lacking in the second half of Saturday’s frustrating loss. And the passing was contagious as Victor Oladipo (four points) had six assists and Channing Frye (three points) added five assists.
The Magic were a bit better defensively, holding New Orleans (10-21) to 44.6 percent shooting. That stopped a streak of four consecutive foes shooting at least 49 percent against Orlando.
Orlando also got 13 points from reserve forward Andrew Nicholson and 14 points from Tobias Harris for its sixth win in the past eight games. The Magic also improved to 11-6 at the Amway Center.
Vucevic came into Monday’s game averaging 18.7 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.2 rebounds in December and on Monday he strengthened his bid to win the Eastern Conference’s player of the month award. After making 13 of 19 shots on Monday, he’s now scored 20-or-more points in six straight games and he has 11 games this month with at least three assists.
Up 75-64 at the end of three periods, the Magic made their first five shots of the fourth to turn the game into a laugher. Much of that run came while New Orleans star Anthony Davis (20 points and six rebounds) was in the locker room after getting accidentally kneed in the groin by Oladipo.
Magic point guard Elfrid Payton limped off the floor early in the first quarter after mildly spraining his right ankle. Payton, who has never missed a game because of injury in high school, college or the NBA, returned to the game after getting his ankle re-tapped. He sprained his left ankle two weeks ago, but played through that injury as well. He finished with six points and three rebounds in 21 minutes.
Monday’s victory allowed the Magic to sweep the season series from the Pelicans, which came into the game having won three of four. Orlando won 103-94 in New Orleans on Nov. 3 for its first victory of the season.
In yet another sign of tremendous growth, the Magic have now swept three foes from the Western Conference: Utah, Minnesota and New Orleans. Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said much of the credit for Orlando’s progress should go to head coach Scott Skiles.
“I think Scott has probably done as good a job as anybody in the league so far this year,” Gentry said. “From where this team was and the level that they’re playing; they’re in every single game and they give themselves an opportunity to win because of the effort that they play with. … You have to execute to beat this team; they’re into you defensively. Any turnovers, they get out and run and attack the basket. You can’t turn the ball over and they execute in the backcourt.”
Home for six of the past seven games, the Magic will wrap up their longest stretch of the season at the Amway Center on Wednesday night when they host the rebuilding Brooklyn Nets. Orlando thumped the Nets 105-82 in Brooklyn on Dec. 14 – a victory that ignited Orlando’s improved offensive play and one that started a three-game winning streak.
Orlando has a difficult road stretch ahead starting later this week, opening 2016 with road games against Washington (Friday), Cleveland (Saturday) and Detroit (Monday). The Magic are 0-2 against the Wizards and 0-2 against Cleveland and will be playing the vastly improved Pistons for the first time this season.
Vucevic and Fournier combined for 17 of the Magic’s 25 points in the third quarter, allowing them to turn a four-point lead into 11 by the start of the fourth. And when Orlando drilled the first five shots of the fourth – three of them by Nicholson – the rout was on.
Orlando had a 50-46 edge at halftime, but it was more so because of the teamwork of Vucevic and Fournier than any improvement defensively. The Magic opened the game with a 9-0 start, but they let the Pelicans back into the game over the course of the first half.
It didn’t matter whether New Orleans used 7-footer Omer Asik or Davis at center, Vucevic had his way in the first half. He made eight of his first 13 shots for 16 first-half points. His best sequence came when he burned Davis on a nifty up-and-under move in the post and then powered over the shot-blocker for a lefty hook on the very next possession.
In addition to scoring 13 points and hitting two 3-pointers in the first half, Fournier had four assists. Two of those passes went to Vucevic – his best friend on the team – for baskets. Both of Vucevic’s first-half assists went to Fournier – one for a cutting layup and the second one for a 3-pointer.
Coming into Monday night, Fournier had assisted on Vucevic baskets 27 times. Vucevic, who is vastly improved as a passer this season, had set up Fournier for baskets 16 times before Monday.
Davis had 14 first-half points – most of them coming on mid-range shots. Norris Cole gave the Pelicans 11 first-half points, while Tyreke Evans carved up Orlando on pick-and-roll plays for five assists early on. New Orleans shot 47.7 percent with three 3-pointers in the game’s first 24 minutes.
