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By John DentonOct. 17, 2014
ORLANDO -- Because he got a late start in the sport, has a small college background and is somewhat of a late-bloomer in basketball, Orlando Magic power forward Kyle O’Quinn has spent his last three summers working to make up for lost time.
Whether he was in Orlando, Las Vegas or his native Queens, N.Y., O’Quinn could usually be found most days sweating in gymnasiums and stroking too many jumpers, hook shots and pick-and-pop tries to keep track of. The goal, O’Quinn has said repeatedly, was to take his gritty defense and combine it with a more instinctual and aggressive offensive game.
As he did late last season when he briefly rose to starter status and has done again all throughout this preseason, O’Quinn showed off the confidence and fluidity in his game on Friday night. He drilled two 3-pointers early in the game, passed well throughout and finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists in Orlando’s 99-87 defeat of Detroit at the Amway Center.
O’Quinn got his first start of the preseason and sparked some stellar frontline play for the Magic by making six of eight shots. Forward Tobias Harris (22 points and nine rebounds), center Nikola Vucevic (18 points and seven rebounds) and O’Quinn accounted for 54 points and 23 rebounds to outplay Detroit’s massive frontline of Greg Monroe (24 points and nine rebounds), Andre Drummond (11 points and seven rebounds) and Josh Smith (three points and one rebound).
``He’s definitely improved tenfold. The game has just slowed down for him and is in the process of slowing down even more,’’ Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said of O’Quinn. ``He’s extremely fun to be around and he loves the game even though he came to it late. He’s great with his teammates. He’s excited about getting better and contributing to the team.’’
The victory allowed Orlando (4-1) to continue its impressive start to the preseason. The Magic won just two games each of the past two exhibition seasons, but clearly the team’s emphasis on player growth, a faster offensive pace and more aggressive defense is paying early dividends. So far, the Magic have beaten Miami, Indiana, Detroit and Brazil’s Flamengo, while losing by two points in Charlotte.
``All of these games matter. It is the preseason, but as soon as that ball tips off it’s a starting five against another starting five and we want to compete,’’ said Harris, who has averaged 16.2 points per game on 57.4 percent shooting from the field. ``We’re not a team that’s going to just go out there and settle with this preseason. We’re trying to build a lot of chemistry and have a good focus night-in and night-out.’’
Friday’s game featured the Amway Center return of Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy, Orlando’s highly successful head coach from 2007-12. Van Gundy guided Orlando to five playoff berths and spots in the 2009 NBA Finals and the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals. Van Gundy accepted a dual job as the Pistons’ President of Basketball Operations and head coach in May and he has been charged with using his hard-driving style to breathe life into the struggling franchise.
Prior to Friday’s game, Van Gundy was highly complementary of the collection of young talent that the Magic have accumulated. Van Gundy said that Orlando has the potential to be an elite offensive team because of the athleticism and depth of the roster.
``The first thing is that they play at a very, very high energy level. They play at a good pace, not only up and down the floor, but they play with a great pace in their offense,’’ Van Gundy said. ``A lot of pick-and-rolls and they play with great quickness and freedom. I think they’ve got a lot of skilled guys and it’s a talented young team. And then I think when they need to slow the game down they have a great anchor down low in Vucevic, a very, very skilled guy. … Tonight, in particular, because we didn’t spend a ton of time in preparation like we would in the regular season, stopping them will be a big problem. But I think it’s going to be a very big problem for everybody all year long. They’ve got a lot of guys they can run in and out of the game, they can play at a high pace and I think they have a chance to be a very good offensive team.’’
Orlando never trailed and fought back several Detroit runs at the lead throughout the second half.
Ben Gordon scored 10 points, grabbed five rebounds and handed out four assists off the Magic’s bench, while rookie forward Aaron Gordon chipped in 11 points, eight rebounds and two thunderous dunks. The No. 4 overall pick from last June’s draft drove along the baseline for one dunk and had another two-handed stuff after corralling a tough rebound in traffic.
Orlando will play their first – and only – back-to-back set of games in the preseason when they face the Philadelphia 76ers in Allentown, Pa. The Magic will play 17 back-to-back sets of games during the regular season.
Orlando led by as much as 19 points early on due to the strength of more strong first-half play from Harris (13 points) and Vucevic (12 points) and six 3-pointers. However, Detroit got back into the game late in the second period and drew within 54-49 by halftime.
Harris came into Friday having scored at least 14 points in each of the first four preseason games despite usually only playing three quarters. He nearly hit that mark by halftime against the Pistons by twice driving past Josh Smith for left-handed layups and sinking a 3-pointer.
O’Quinn showed off the tremendous progress in his game late last season when he started the final 19 games. He worked throughout the summer, came to camp in great shape and played well early in the exhibition season. He nearly had a double-double in the opener against Miami (10 points and six rebounds) and he played especially well in the second game in Indiana (13 points and 10 rebounds).
O’Quinn made the first 3-pointer of his NBA career – preseason or regular season – on Wednesday in the defeat of Brazil’s Flamengo. And O’Quinn never hesitated on Friday when the ball found him on the perimeter twice in the first half. In the first half alone, O’Quinn drilled two 3-pointers, handed out three assists and stole the ball twice from Detroit big men.
``It’s not a surprise to me because Kyle works really hard. He comes in the gym every day and gives a good effort,’’ Harris said of O’Quinn, who has averaged 10.2 points and 6.4 rebounds in five preseason games. ``You can see that he’s worked on his body over the summer and he’s able to play longer minutes for us. He looks really sharp out there. He comes to work every day and hard work is always going to help you get through.’’
The Magic grabbed a 32-21 lead after one quarter thanks to stellar ball movement that resulted in several wide-open perimeter shots. In addition to O’Qinn’s shots, Harris had a straight-on three off a drive-and-kick feed from Elfrid Payton and Gordon – another player who has worked to better his shot – drilled a corner 3-pointer. O’Quinn failed to make a 3-pointer in his first two NBA seasons, but he already has three makes from beyond the arc this preseason.
Orlando started Vucevic, Harris, O’Quinn, Payton and Evan Fournier on Friday night, and those players could be rested on Saturday against the Sixers. Vucevic and Harris are the only players to have started all five preseason games so far and they are the top candidates to be rested after playing extensive minutes so far. Harris is still suffering from soreness in his chest and abdomen area from a hard fall in Wednesday’s win.