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By John Denton
Feb. 29, 2016
ORLANDO – The recent trade for Brandon Jennings and the return of C. J. Watson has made the competition for minutes at the point guard position more intense for Elfrid Payton of late.
Not that the Orlando Magic’s second-year standout needed those things to light his competitive fire.
``I don’t need stoking,’’ said Payton, who has remained firmly entrenched as Orlando’s starter despite the recent arrivals of two newcomers to the rotation. ``I wake up with this (fire).’’
If there was any doubt at all about the competitiveness of the 22-year-old Payton all you needed to see was the finish of Sunday night’s Magic game against the Philadelphia 76ers. Once up by as much as 29 points, the Magic allowed Philadelphia to charge back into the game and get as close as eight points. And when center Nikola Vucevic fouled out, the Magic looked as though they could be vulnerable to squandering the lead completely.
Sensing that his team was in need of a finisher, Payton sprung into action and transformed himself from playmaker to scoring to rescue Orlando, which was also without top scorer Evan Fournier because of a sore right wrist. With the margin down to single digits, Payton converted two free throws and twice got into the lane for a 4-foot floater and a point-blank layup. And he capped Orlando’s 130-116 victory with a drive-and-dish lob to teammate Aaron Gordon for a thunderous dunk.
``I just had to lead us,’’ said Payton, following his 11-point, 10 assist effort. ``It might not always be shots, but I was trying to make sure that we got good looks at the rim. Guys were starting to stay home (on Philadelphia’s defense) because our offense was doing so well and that opened up a few lanes for me and I was able to finish.’’
Orlando (26-32) is hopeful that it will be in a position to finish off a game again on Tuesday when it faces the Mavericks (32-28) in Dallas. The two teams played one of the most bizarre games of the season at the Amway Center on Feb 19. The Magic led by as much as 21 points early on only to see Dallas storm back to take a 14-point lead behind its voluminous 3-point shooting. Orlando ultimately rallied to get the game to OT where it got two big plays from Victor Oladipo and won 110-104.
Orlando is still very much in the playoff hunt, sitting just four games back of Chicago and Charlotte for the final playoff slot. Washington is in between the Magic and those teams, so the Magic know they need to keep winning to stay in the race.
``We just have to close out games,’’ said Payton, whose Magic are 5-9 in games decided by three-or-less this season. ``We’re doing a good job of staying in these games and playing well up until the final five minutes, but we’ve got to continue to do that all the way to the end. And, at the end of the day, we have to find a way to win. That’s always the most important thing. Just find a way.’’
Payton’s second season in the NBA has been filled with a series of steps forward and steps back for a variety of reasons. He missed much of training camp because of a hamstring strain and his adjustment to head coach Scott Skiles’ system of passing instead of dribbling has been an ongoing adjustment. Then, there was a series of debilitating ankle injuries in December and January – ones that caused him to miss basketball games for the first time in his life.
Payton has averaged 10.7 points, 5.9 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.2 rebounds while shooting 42.6 percent from the floor, 35.8 percent from 3-point range and 61.1 percent from the free throw line. He’s worked hard to improve his outside shot and the benefits of that work can be seen in how he’s made 24 3-pointers – more than twice as many as last season in 82 games.
When Jennings became available before the NBA trade deadline, Magic GM Rob Hennigan pulled off a deal with the Detroit Pistons for the veteran point guard and forward Ersan Ilyasova. Both Hennigan and Skiles have said that they see Payton and Jennings as complementary pieces at the point guard position. Whereas Payton is 6-foot-3 and gives foes fits with his wingspan, wiry strength and constant attacking of the rim, Jennings is smaller and quicker, can more easily shoot into passing lanes and is more of a scorer. And while Payton is best operating in pick-and-roll sets, Jennings can create his own shot and score points in bunches with his outside accuracy.
Skiles and Hennigan have both stressed that they feel Payton and Jennings can coexist while sharing the point guard minutes, and that’s exactly what they have done thus far as the Magic have gone 3-3 since the trade.
In Orlando’s overtime defeat of Dallas two weeks ago, Payton played 28 minutes (nine points, three rebounds and three assists), while Jennings played 18 minutes (18 points, four 3-pointers and four assists) and Watson was in for eight minutes.
In the six games since Jennings joined the Magic and Watson returned from a calf injury, Payton has played on average 26.6 minutes, while Jennings has played 17.1 minutes and Watson has been on the floor at the two guard slots for 15.3 minutes.
Hennigan said recently that the acquisition of Jennings had more to do with the acquisition of a veteran than it did taking time away from Payton.
``Our belief in Elfrid has not wavered and it will not waver. We think that Brandon is a great complement to Elfrid and that Elfrid is a great complement to him,’’ Hennigan said last week. ``A lot of the ways we go about building our roster is based on the versatility and the complementary nature of our players. We feel like Elfrid and Brandon fit very well together. We feel like Brandon’s knowledge and experience will help our backcourt. He’s a proven scorer, a proven shot-maker and he can get his own shot on occasion. And those are all things that our backcourt needs.’’
For Payton, Tuesday’s return to Dallas will take him back to the arena where he registered the first triple-double of his career last March. After Orlando fell into a huge third-quarter hole (70-48), Payton brought it back within a point with his dazzling all-around play. That night he finished with 15 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, but he misfired on a jumper with 30 seconds to play that could have given Orlando the lead.
Two nights later, in a home game against friend and Portland idol Damian Lillard, Payton wouldn’t be denied. After putting up 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, he became the first Magic player – and the first NBA rookie since Antoine Walker in 1997 – to post triple-doubles in consecutive games.
Now, Payton wants do whatever it takes to keep the Magic in the playoff chase. He got to the NBA by being a tough defender and he knows that Orlando’s defense must improve dramatically – especially with games ahead against the Mavs, Bulls, Warriors, Kings and Trail Blazers – if they want to finish the regular season with a flourish.
``It’s good that we had nights like (Sunday’s 130-point effort versus Philadelphia), but we’ve got to pick our defense up,’’ Payton said. ``Moving forward, we know that we’re not going to get many wins playing defense like (they did on Sunday night). It’s good that our offense played like that, but we’ve got to clean up those (defensive) things.’’