By John Denton
March 17, 2017
PHOENIX – Coming into Friday, the Orlando Magic had won 18 times this season following losses – some of those losses lopsided laughers – and that would seem to suggest that they are a good bounce-back team. That, of course, would be a paradox considering all the trouble that they have had bouncing back in the middle of games when foes go on tide-turning runs.
Fitting of their hot-and-cold, highly erratic play all season, the Magic have enjoyed some of their best wins following particularly ugly defeats. Also, some of Orlando’s most promising starts in games have been undone by the team’s inability to stop runs mid-game, causing deficits to swell to almost unconscionable numbers.
Less than 48 hours after a humbling, one-sided thrashing at the hands of the Golden State Warriors, the Magic bounced back again by showing their resiliency in a much-needed 109-103 defeat of the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Arena.
The competition, of course, was dramatically different from Thursday to Friday considering that the Warriors are the class of the Western Conference and the Suns are near the bottom. But the Magic, too, looked like a completely different team than the one that got smashed on Thursday. In Phoenix, Orlando got its running game and defense going early and it played with poise late in the night to gut out the victory.
``It’s too bad that we need a bad loss to have a good game,’’ said Magic guard Evan Fournier, who scored seven of his team-high 25 points in the fourth quarter. ``But this was a good win. Back-to-back (games) are never easy to manage, especially with the pace of the games and the fatigue comes in. But we fought through it and came out strong.’’
Orlando (25-45) snapped a four-game losing streak and avoided what would have been its longest losing streak of the season. The Magic also ended a puzzling four-game skid against the Suns (22-47).
All that mattered to the Magic on Friday was distancing themselves from what happened on Thursday.
``Nobody likes to lose by (30), nobody does, so it’s like a slap in the face to your pride and we wanted to come out here and show that we’re a capable team and have talent,’’ said forward Aaron Gordon, who had 17 points and a high-flying alley-oop dunk in the Magic’s 7-0 burst that vaulted them into the lead. ``We came out and played with more aggression and confidence and it worked for us tonight.’’
The Magic trailed 94-93 with 6:24 to play when center Nikola Vucevic had a gritty put-back basket in traffic, Gordon converted the highlight-worthy lob and Fournier sunk a game-sealing 3-pointer. The final shot put the Magic ahead 100-96 and sent them on their way to the victory.
Orlando was outplayed and outclassed on Thursday in a 122-92 loss to Klay Thompson, Steph Curry and the Warriors. It was the team’s 13th loss of the season by 20-or-more points – the wrong kind of franchise record in this frustration-filled season.
Thompson had 21 points and five 3-pointers in Thursday’s first eight minutes and the Magic were determined to not let Phoenix standout Devin Booker do the same on Friday. Booker (10 points) made just three of 13 shots and didn’t make a 3-pointer while being checked by Fournier, Gordon and Terrence Ross (14 points and two threes).
``It was a team effort. Terrence started on him, Evan did a great job down the stretch and our bigs and switchers did a much better job,’’ Magic coach Frank Vogel said. ``We called him `Devin Booker-Thompson’ all day and that was his name. We’ve got to guard `Booker-Thompson’ because it’s the same sort of plan because he hurts you with cuts and he hurts you with drives. He’s ca catch-and-shoot guy. We were torched by Klay Thompson and we had to make sure we were up on (Booker).’’
Vogel has struggled to make sense of his team’s inconsistent play – both from night to night and in the middle of games that have gotten away from them. His expectation on Friday, he said before the game, was for Orlando to fight back and play well.
Vogel got his wish as the Magic hung tough all game and found a way to win it in the fourth quarter.
``The numbers were ugly (on Thursday) and we tried to fight back and we just weren’t very good. We didn’t play very well in trying to make runs and trying to respond,’’ Vogel said. ``The next night (following ugly losses) we have been good at responding, but we haven’t responded well within games throughout much of the year. But some of our worst performances were followed by quality wins. That’s the expectation.’’
Fournier (three 3-pointers), Vucevic (18 points and 17 rebounds), Gordon (four dunks and three blocks) and reserve guard D.J. Augustin (nine of 12 points in the fourth quarter) played well for the Magic. Payton (10 points, 11 assists and four rebounds) started strong and looked as if he might make a run at a fourth triple-double of the season. However, his aggressiveness tailed off in the second half and he struggled to keep Phoenix’s Tyler Ulis (19 points and eight assists) in front of him all night.
Vucevic was a game-time decision after spraining his ankle a night earlier when he landed on Curry’s foot. However, he showed no signs of being in pain by delivering his 30th double-double of the season. His put-back basket with 5:22 gave Orlando a 95-94 lead – one it wouldn’t surrender the rest of the game.
``They had a small lineup in and I just wanted to be aggressive and try to get off a second-chance (shot) if we missed,’’ said Vucevic, whose defense on Alex Len (three-of-12 shooting, nine points) was also important. ``Once I got the rebound I felt like I got pushed and I just threw (the shot) up there and tried to get the (whistle). I didn’t get it, but the ball went in and that was the important thing.’’
Phoenix coach Earl Watson talked before the game about the benefits of his team playing hard down the stretch and trying to win as many games as possible. However, the Suns’ actions seem to suggest otherwise. Phoenix has announced that Eric Bledsoe, Tyson Chandler, Brandon Knight will not play again this season though they are listed on the Injury Report. Veteran guard Leandro Barbosa was also given Friday night off as he recovers from an illness.
Friday’s game wrapped up the Magic’s final West Coast trip of the season. It opened with them giving up 120 points and 16 3-pointers in a five-point loss in Sacramento on Monday and Thursday’s humbling 30-point loss to the Warriors followed. The first trip to the West Coast in January didn’t go so well either what with the Magic losing twice in Los Angeles (Lakers and Clippers), in Denver and New Orleans and winning only in Portland.
Up 60-58 at the half, the Magic had little ball and player movement early in the third period and lost the lead. Orlando made just seven of 21 shots in the period and couldn’t get its running game going because it tended to foul too often defensively, resulting in free throws for the Suns.
Booker, who didn’t score his first points until the game was 31 minutes old, missed eight of his first nine shots. Still, Phoenix took an 85-84 lead into the final period.
A night after looking uncharacteristically unsure of himself and shaky with the ball, Payton dominated the action in the first half and helped the Magic hang onto a 60-58 edge at intermission.
Payton set a strong tone early on for the Magic with his do-everything skills. He had assists on Orlando’s first four field goals and he snagged two of the Magic’s eight steals in the first quarter alone. When the Suns turned the ball over a whopping nine times in the first 12 minutes, the Magic made them pay with Payton pushing the pace. Orlando had 14 fast break points in the first quarter and 21 by halftime.
In 16 minutes of action, Payton did a little bit of everything to spark Orlando’s offense. He had eight points, nine assists, four rebounds and three steals by intermission.
Down the stretch, the Magic were the better team behind Vucevic’s toughness, Fournier’s shot-making abilities and Gordon’s high-flying exploits. Add it all up and Orlando offered up a solid response following the embarrassment of Thursday’s one-sided loss to the Warriors.
``It’s tough to figure out sometimes, but we do have a (solid history of) responses following poor performances, which is expected of a team that is trying to build a winning culture,’’ Vogel said. ``That’s how we came out tonight and got the `W’ tonight.’’
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