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By John Denton
Feb. 1, 2016
SAN ANTONIO – Coaches love it when teams can learn lessons from victories, and Orlando’s Scott Skiles is hopeful that his Magic can take a valuable lesson out of Sunday’s home win against the Boston Celtics.
The way the Magic played over the final 20 minutes of the game – sharing the ball to produce great shots, hustling all over to contest 3-point shots and cut off penetrators and feeding off the confident vibe coursing throughout the team – allowed them to wipe out a 13-point deficit in the third quarter.
Orlando outscored the Celtics 65-47 over the final 20 minutes of the game and once ballooned its lead up to as much as 11 points en route to a 119-114 victory. Skiles is hopeful that the Magic will look at the way that they had success in Sunday’s second half and use it as a roadmap going forward in the games to come.
``The problem with what I’m about to say makes it seem like we don’t have any talent, but that’s not the case,’’ Skiles said. ``We have to be a hustle team. Even if we make mistakes, we have to be flying around and making plays. Like a lot of teams in the league, we don’t have just one guy who can bail us out of situations when we get (in trouble). We��ve got to be flying around all the time. We had a long stretch there from the mid-third quarter to the end of the game where we played really hard and fought for it.’’
Orlando’s improved ball movement led to 53.7 percent shooting and 10 3-pointers and it ended up with 27 assists. It was just the 12th time all season that the Magic have had that many assists in a game. Defensively, Orlando held Boston to 41.9 percent shooting and closed off the paint (32 points), making the Celtics heave 46 3-point shots.
HALL OF FAME MENTOR: As fate would have it, the Magic were in San Antonio on Monday night for ``Iceman Night’’ to honor the 20-year anniversary of George Gervin being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Gervin’s agent during his playing days was Torrel Harris, father of Magic forward Tobias Harris. Gervin worked with a young Tobias for years, giving him tips that eventually helped him become one of the nation’s best high school and college players.
In fact, Gervin was one of the first people to tell Harris that the thought he had the potential to someday play in the NBA. The two of them still communicate on a regular basis with Gervin watching several Magic games and sending tips to Harris.
``I knew his dad for a long time and I’ve known Tobias since he was 9 or 10 and we worked on fundamentals,’’ Gervin said. ``He was another kid who just loved the game. I know the people in Orlando love Tobias because of the guy that he is and he has the passion for basketball and a passion for people. He’s a Christian and I’m very proud to have that relationship with him.’’
Said Harris: ``He watches a lot of our games and I speak to him a lot throughout the season. It’s awesome that we get to play on his night. … My father always told me (that he could play in the NBA), but as I got to work out with (Gervin) he saw a lot of potential in me. He’s always in my ear telling me little things that he sees. He’s a great mentor to have and a pleasure to talk to.’’
A.G.’S HUSTLE: When Aaron Gordon contributed two spectacular plays in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s night’s defeat of the Celtics, they looked to be just the cappers on an exceptional night for the Magic and for the second-year forward.
After all, Orlando was up 106-97 when Gordon sprinted back on defense and swatted an Avery Bradley 3-point attempt into the stands. And when Gordon followed up a Nikola Vucevic missed shot with a thunderous one-handed dunk, the Magic had a seemingly safe 110-100 inside the final 2 minutes.
However, because of Magic free throw misses and an ill-advised foul on a 3-point shot, Boston clawed back into the game and got within 117-114 in the final seconds. As it turned out, Gordon’s plays proved quite critical in the Magic’s winning effort.
``(Skiles) talked about paying the price to win and that means doing all of the little things all game long,’’ said Gordon, who tied his career high in scoring (19 points) and set a new career high for rebounds (14). ``We bought into that (on Sunday).’’
Skiles inserted Gordon into the starting lineup five games ago because he was hoping the team’s most athletic player could give the team a shot of energy and speed. After Sunday’s game, Skiles lauded Gordon for continuing to play the game and not coasting with the Magic having a seemingly safe lead.
``The block was a really, really pick even though it seemed like we were (comfortably) ahead,’’ Skiles said. ``One of the things that we’re battling with our guys is that we have a tendency to think when we’re up eight or 10 with a minute to play that the game’s over. Well, it’s not over in the NBA. So (Gordon) chasing the guy down and the tip-dunk those were big plays. Aaron was active pretty much all night long.’’
FAMILIAR FACES: James Borrego, a Magic assistant coach the past three seasons and the franchise’s interim head coach the final 30 games of last season, spent much of his time before Monday’s game greeting many of the players he worked with in Orlando.
Borrego took over for fired head coach Jacque Vaughn on Feb. 5 last year and he was 10-20 as the Magic’s interim coach. He was a candidate to be the head coach before Skiles was ultimately hired last May.
Borrego, who worked his way up from video coordinator to assistant coach during his time in San Antonio from 2003-10, was hired by the Spurs as an assistant coach on June 17.
``He’s an experienced guy who is confident in his knowledge of the game,’’ San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said of Borrego. ``He adds another voice when we try and figure out what we want to do as a group. So he’s a confident and gifted young man.’’
Vaughn, who was 58-158 in 2 ½ seasons as head coach of the Magic, was also hired by the Spurs as a pro scout on Sept. 22. Vaughn still lives in Orlando and has made several appearances back at the Amway Center scouting future foes of the Spurs.
``We’re fortunate to have somebody of his expertise and experience. He’s helped us figure out what the makeup of the team is going to be as we move forward,’’ Popovich said.
HOME DOMINANCE: Not only did the San Antonio Spurs come into Monday night’s game undefeated at home this season, but they have been downright dominant at the AT&T Center.
While compiling a franchise-best 25-0 start at home, the Spurs have trailed just 2 minutes, 1 second of a possible 300 minutes in fourth quarters so far. In 23 of those 25 games, the Spurs never trailed once in the fourth quarter.
San Antonio trailed 88-85 at the start of the fourth quarter on Dec. 18 against the Los Angeles Clippers, but it used an 11-0 burst and ran away for a 115-107 victory. And on Jan. 14, the Spurs trailed for 67 seconds of the fourth quarter against Cleveland, but they eventually rallied for a 99-95 win.
The schedule-makers have done the Spurs a bit of a favor this season for their home games. Seven of the first nine teams to come into San Antonio this season were playing on the second night of a back-to-back. Orlando was similarly playing on the second night of a back-to-back, beating Boston on Sunday and arriving in San Antonio about 1 a.m. CT. Of the Spurs 26 home games this season, nine teams have come into San Antonio on the second night of a back-to-back.
``And they’re 34-0 dating back to last year,’’ Skiles noted. ``It’s a great team and they know what they’re doing out there. They’re not going to make mistakes out there. Yes, you can shoot a gap, get a steal and make a layup, but it’s not going to happen again. They’re not going to make mistakes. And because they play the style that they’ve had with constant player and ball movement, they’re going to find a weak link out there if it’s out there and expose it.’’