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Postgame Report: Magic vs. Rockets (3/17/15)

Josh Cohen
Digital News Manager

By John Denton

March 17, 2015

HOUSTON – Up seven points late in the third quarter and playing some of their best basketball in more than a week, the Orlando Magic saw the game’s momentum – and ultimately any chance for an upset victory – slip away in a matter of seconds.

Houston forward Josh Smith – he of several years of shaky shooting – drilled two 3-pointers at the end of the third quarter. The Magic could only look on in horror as Smith’s second 3-point shot – a 28-footer as the third-quarter horn sounded – was offline, but it still kissed off the glass and went in.

The Magic had another 12 minutes to recover, but Smith’s unlikely shots proved to be the back-breaking, momentum-swiping moments for an Orlando team that had played so well up to that point. The Magic pushed the Rockets all night, but they were outscored 30-16 over the final 12 minutes and they could never get over the hump after Smith’s shots in a 107-94 loss at the Toyota Center.

``That was a really big momentum swing and it just carried over into the fourth quarter,’’ said Magic rookie point guard Elfrid Payton, referring to Smith’s two heaves. ``We’ve just got to do a better job of closing out quarters.’’

The Magic (21-48) did a spectacular defensive job of limiting MVP candidate James Harden (17 points) to a subpar night, but they were ultimately undone by the likes of Donatas Motiejunas (23 points), Corey Brewer (13 points and 12 rebounds) and Smith (17 points). Brewer also had a killer of a shot for the Magic when he drilled a fall-away 3-pointer as the shot clock expired with 3:07 remaining. The Brewer heave put Orlando – losers of five straight overall and 10 in a row on the road – in a crippling eight-point hole.

``We did a great job on Harden, and in order to beat that team that’s what you have to do,’’ said Magic guard Victor Oladipo. ``But credit their other guys because they stepped up and played well.’’

The poor finish ruined an otherwise brilliant night from Oladipo, who was in attack mode all night and scored 29 points on 11 of 21 shooting. The Magic guard made a tactical error at the end of the third period, putting up a straight-on jumper with the shot clock off and six seconds remaining. That allowed Smith enough time to get off the buzzer-beating three that crippled the Magic at the end of the third period.

``It’s tough, man, and it even went off the glass at the end of the third quarter,’’ Oladipo said. ``I’ve got to do a better job making sure that I shot the very last shot so that they don’t get that off, but it’s tough right now. Credit them because they hit big shots.’’

Oladipo’s layup with 4:42 left in the fourth got the Magic to within 94-92, but they did not have another field goal until the final 40 seconds. Late-game woes continue to dog a young Magic team trying to learn how to close out games.

``We had a lead going into the fourth quarter and we put ourselves in position again, and our goal now has to be to close it out in the fourth quarter,’’ Magic interim coach James Borrego said. ``We all have to step up and make a play, make a stop or make a bucket or get a 50/50 to get it done. Tonight, we didn’t. We have to fight through that because (opposing) teams play their best in the fourth quarter when the level is raised. Houston raised its level and we responded with the right effort, but we just didn’t execute well enough.’’

Nikola Vucevic chipped in 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Payton added 10 points and seven assists. Orlando lost Tobias Harris (six points) in the third period and Ben Gordon (13 points) had just two points in the second half after pumping in 11 in the first half.

Harden, the NBA’s second-leading scorer, missed his first six shots and made just four of 14 shots in the game. The Rockets (45-22) went through a drought during the game where they missed 12 of 14 3-point shots, but they made six of their last eight tries from beyond the stripe. Houston, which is on pace to shatter the NBA record for the most 3-pointers in a season, hit 11 of 27 threes in the game.

The Magic notched one of their most impressive wins of the season on Jan. 14 when they beat the Rockets 120-113. They looked to be en route to another defeat of the Rockets by surging to the third-quarter lead before giving up one big 3-point shot after another in the game’s final 13 minutes.

Orlando suffered a big blow in the third quarter when talented scorer Tobias Harris was unable to continue because of a sprained ankle. Harris, who had six points, turned his ankle on a drive to the rim with 5 minutes to play in the first half. He limped to the locker room to get the ankle re-taped. He tried playing on the ankle, making it through six minutes of the third quarter before being pulled from the action.

The Magic will be back in action on Wednesday night when they face the Mavericks in Dallas. The game was originally scheduled to begin at 8:30 ET, but it will now tipoff just after 8 p.m. to accommodate the national television (ESPN) broadcast. The game will also be televised in Central Florida on Fox Sports Florida.

Harris’ availability for Wednesday’s game in Dallas is uncertain, but he’s likely out because of his history with ankle troubles the last two seasons.

Houston is still without center Dwight Howard, who has missed the past 23 games with right knee edema. Howard, who hasn’t played since Jan. 23, participated in portions of practice on Monday, but he isn’t expected to play for another week or so.

Howard, the first overall pick of the 2004 NBA Draft, starred in Orlando for eight seasons and led the Magic to the 2009 NBA Finals and the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals. He demanded a trade following the 2011-12 season and he was dealt to the Los Angeles Lakers – a trade that ultimately netted Orlando starting center Nikola Vucevic, forward Maurice Harkless and others.

Strangely, Howard has not won a playoff series since 2010 when he and the Magic swept the Atlanta Hawks in the second round of the postseason to reach the East Finals. Howard lost to the Hawks in 2011, missed the 2012 playoffs because of back surgery and his teams have lost in the first round each of the past two years.

The Magic went into the fourth quarter with a 78-77 lead – something that should have been encouraging – except for the way that the third quarter ended. Orlando scored seven straight points to storm to a 78-71 lead, but it could only look on in horror as Josh Smith ended the period with two 3-pointers. Smith, long a horrid 3-point shooter, banked in the second shot from 28 feet out as the horn sounded to steal the momentum away from the Magic.

``That was a pretty big swing, especially the (3-pointer) at the buzzer off the backboard,’’ Vucevic said. ``We had been playing well in that third quarter and building the lead and then they make two threes and get the momentum back. We need really made a full recovery from that.’’

Other than the poor finish, the Magic played some of their best basketball of the night in the third period. Channing Frye had two 3-pointers, while Payton was at his do-everything best with eight points, two assists, two rebounds and a steal in the third quarter.

Orlando fought and scrapped to stay within 51-50 of the Rockets by halftime. The Magic made 43.2 percent of their shots in the first 24 minutes and most importantly they found a way to put the clamps on Houston’s shooters. The Rockets made three of their first five 3-point shots, but they made just one of eight the rest of the half.

Oladipo, who has had trouble getting to the free throw line of late, was dialed in and aggressive from the start on Tuesday night. Oladipo had 32 points against the Rockets in January and he seemed to be headed to a similar output on Tuesday after scoring 17 points in the first half. Early on, he made six of 10 shots – including two dunks that were set up by spectacular feeds by Payton (five assists in the first half).

Borrego, who made some changes to his rotation on Tuesday by using guard Ben Gordon and forward Kyle O’Quinn off the bench, said the Magic have to become a better fourth-quarter team if it is going to figure out ways to stop the frustrating finishes in games where they play well.

``For whatever reason, our shots don’t seem to fall in the fourth quarter right now,’’ Borrego said. ``We’ve got to play through that and rely on our defense to get us through those moments. Instead of giving up a 30-point quarter, we might have to give up a 15-point quarter or a 20-point quarter to win a game. That’s where we’ve got to be better until our offense catches up in the fourth quarter.’’

Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors.