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Jason Smith Having Big Impact Off Bench for Magic

Josh Cohen
Digital News Manager

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By John Denton

Feb. 9, 2016

ORLANDO – Life is pretty good these days for always bubbly power forward Jason Smith.

Not only did the Colorado native’s beloved Denver Broncos win the Super Bowl in an upset of the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, but the 7-footer continues to knock down mid-range jump shots at a solid rate. And, most importantly, his Orlando Magic seem close to getting their season back on track following an extended rough stretch.

Following Orlando’s two defeats of the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday and Monday, Smith feels that the Magic are on the verge of playing their way back into the playoff race in the jumbled Eastern Conference.

Smith said the way that the Magic (23-28) responded following a crippling stretch where they lost 15 of 17 games – with gritty, clutch defeats of the Hawks on consecutive nights – it says so much about the determination of this Orlando squad.

``We could have easily folded it in and shut people down, but that’s not the characteristic of our team. We’re a work-hard team – coach (Scott Skiles) has said that over and over and we have guys who want to compete,’’ Smith said Monday night after Orlando’s 117-110 overtime defeat of the Hawks. ``We want to go out every night and prove that we’re changing and that we’re ready to get into that playoff picture. I think we still can (get in the playoff race) because we have a lot of games remaining.’’

Orlando heads into the final game before the break for the NBA All-Star Game – a Wednesday night showdown against the surging San Antonio Spurs at the Amway Center – just three games (and two losses) back of the No. 8 spot in the East. The No. 7 Chicago Bulls (27-24) have dropped three straight, while the No. 8 Detroit Pistons (27-26) have lost two games in a row. Orlando’s two defeats of the Hawks – the franchise’s first two wins against the same team on back-to-back nights since Jan. 28-29, 2005 against the Washington Wizards – vaulted it back into contention.

Some might find that shocking considering that the Magic followed up a 10-win December with a 2-12 January and three straight losses to open up February. Once an early-season factor in the East race, the Magic have been trying to figure out for weeks if they are the team that opened 19-13 or the one that slumped so badly of late against both elite teams and struggling ones.

``It’s been a rough go the past month, but we’ve tried to refocus ourselves and realize that we’re still a good team,’’ said Smith, Orlando’s most consistent and productive reserve all season while averaging 6.3 points on 51.6 percent shooting. ``As long as we move the ball, take care of it and play team defense, we’re a really good team – something that we proved early in the season – and we think we can get back to that. Hopefully can keep this going. We don’t want to give up this momentum going into the (NBA All-Star) break. We want to finish this off with a good game against a very tough San Antonio team. And after the break we want to keep it going.’’

Smith helped the Magic get some much-needed momentum on Monday night following a dreadful start to the game. Orlando trailed 12-4 after three minutes when head coach Scott Skiles benched three starters. Six minutes later, the Magic were in a 28-8 hole what seemed to be a hopeless situation.

Then, Smith buried three straight catch-and-shoot jumpers – from 19, 20 and 12 feet. He continued his torrid shooting in the second quarter with two more mid-range shots to bring Orlando back within 10 of the Hawks. As it turned out, Smith’s burst of scoring production proved to be critical in jump-starting the Magic’s best come-from-behind rally of the season.

Smith finished with 14 points on seven of 11 shooting. His importance to the Magic could be seen in his plus-13 point differential in his 22 minutes on the floor versus the Hawks on Monday. Orlando’s rally from 20 points down was the biggest comeback by any team playing against the Hawks this season.

Smith’s steady production and consistency have earned him high praise from Skiles, a coach who constantly talks to his team about having professionalism in their approach from game to game.

``We need those shots that he can make and his shot-making is very important to us,’’ Skiles said of Smith, who drilled a clutch, go-ahead 3-point shot late in the fourth quarter last week in Oklahoma City. ``Most of the time this year he’s coming into the game for (center Nikola Vucevic) and that (shooting) is something that he does as well, so we don’t lose a lot with Jason in the game.’’

Smith said the Magic can’t afford to lose any more ground in the standings if they want to make a serious run at the playoffs. Of Orlando’s 31 games remaining, 18 are against teams with winning records, including two against the World Champion Golden State Warriors and one more against the 43-win Spurs.

Smith said that regardless of how things go Wednesday night against San Antonio it will be imperative for the Magic to return from the break for the All-Star Game prepared for the difficult task ahead.

``We still have the All-Star break and then it’s a push and it’s going to be difficult,’’ said Smith, who chose the Magic over the Thunder last summer when signing a free-agent contract. ``We have a tough March and April ahead of us. We’ve yet to play the Warriors and a lot of good West Coast teams, so it’s not going to be easy by any stretch. We’re going to communicate that as veteran players to the rest of the group and we’ve got a grind ahead of us, but we’re not going to give up. Our goal is to get to the playoffs.’’

Speaking of the playoffs, Smith couldn’t be happier about how the NFL playoffs went for his Broncos lately. A native of Kersey, Colo. – a tiny town 57 miles northeast of Denver – Smith’s first sports love was the Broncos and legendary quarterback John Elway.

He said he fretted through every second of Denver’s 24-10 defeat of the Carolina Panthers on Sunday night in Super Bowl 50. And on Monday, Smith happily asked teammate Aaron Gordon and several other teammates unprompted, ``How about those Broncos?’’

``I was a little nervous the entire time because (the Panthers) kept it within (touchdown) difference the entire time and Carolina could have come back easily, but you have to take your hand off to the Denver defense,’’ Smith said. ``The MVP of the game, Von Miller, was insane. He did his job and he did it well. Both teams made their mistakes with interceptions and fumbles, but I’m glad the right team came out on top.’’

And if Smith has anything to say about it, the Magic will continue to come out on top in the second half of the season and make a serious playoff push.