By John DentonNov. 7, 2015
PHILADELPHIA – After opening the season with five opponents almost assuredly heading to the playoffs, it was only natural for the Orlando Magic to let their guards down against the winless and woeful Philadelphia 76ers.
However, relaxing is not fiery head coach Scott Skiles’ style. And with Magic’s starting five slogging along, Skiles went to his bench early and often and it led to big results for the Magic for a second straight time.
A night after Skiles benched all five starters early in the second half of a win against Toronto, reserves Jason Smith, Mario Hezonja and Aaron Gordon came to the rescue once again and Orlando got an inspiring late lift from Elfrid Payton to beat the Sixers 105-97.
Payton, who has been mired in a shooting slump all season while adjusting to Skiles’ passing-and-cutting-based offensive system, hit eight of 10 shots and scored 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter. He came into the game shooting just 34 percent and had been pulled from the past two games because of ineffectiveness. But on Saturday he was clutch time and again down the stretch and he more closely resembled the player who finished fourth in the NBA’s Rookie of the Year voting last season.
``It’s just about me continuing to play my game and stay as aggressive as possible,’’ Payton said. ``It was the same confidence and me playing the same way. It was just about me continuing to trust my work. I was able to get to the rim tonight.’’
Orlando (3-4) won for a second straight night and for a third time in the past four games. A Magic squad that lost four games early in the season – all by five points or less and three of them coming in heartbreaking fashion – has rebounded nicely even though it is without standout center Nikola Vucevic.
``It’s a good win and we’ll take any win that we can get,’’ Skiles said. ``We had six or seven minutes there in the first half where we had solid defense with the second unit in there, but we struggled (defensively) most of the night. … But we made enough plays to win.’’
Payton worked hard all summer to improve his shot and it paid off late as he drilled two free throws with 2:11 to play and a jumper with 1:21 remaining after Philadelphia had pulled to within 97-93. He sank another two free throws with 26.8 seconds left and the Magic clinging to a four-point lead.
``Hard work pays off. I’ve been putting in a lot of work,’’ said Payton, who made all four of his free throws. ``But it’s still early and I’ve got to do it over the course of the season.’’
Evan Fournier (17 points and three 3-pointers), Victor Oladipo (15 points) and Dewayne Dedmon (12 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots) were solid throughout. Tobias Harris chipped in nine points and a big blocked shot down the stretch.
``It feels great getting back-to-back wins – a first for the season,’’ said Fournier, who made seven of 12 shots to rebound from a tough shooting night on Friday and someone who could contend for the Eastern Conference Player of the Week award after having 30 and 29 points on Tuesday and Wednesday. ``We’re playing good basketball right now and we’re playing with confidence. We’re trusting each other more and we’re used to the new system. It’s paying off and that gives us confidence.’’
Perpetually in rebuilding mode, Philadelphia dropped to 0-6 on the season. Center Jahlil Okafor continued to be a bright spot with 19 points, while reserve guard Isaiah Canaan surprised the Magic with 23 points and six 3-pointers.
With the Magic playing for a fourth time in five nights, the Magic had varying levels of energy all night. Skiles didn’t hesitate going to his bench. Smith had 10 points and five rebounds and he refused to back down from Nerlens Noel when the Philadelphia forward threw a forearm at him with 1:51 left in the third quarter. Noel was ejected from the game and Smith, who started his career with the Sixers, was booed as he drilled the subsequent two free throws.
``He was very good on Okafor, who is tough to get a handle on and is already a very good low-post player,’’ Skiles said of Smith. ``I thought Jason did a nice job on him anytime he was on (Okafor) in the game. Dewayne (Dedmon) is known as the better defender, but he struggled and Jason did a really nice job.’’
Noel, who will likely be suspended by the NBA in the coming days, finished with just two points and four rebounds in 21 minutes.
Hezonja (11 points) and Gordon (10 points and six rebounds) carried the Magic through stretches of the first half with their energy off the bench.
``That’s what we’ve got to do and you can’t expect anything less from us,’’ Gordon said of the reserves carrying the team for long stretches. ``When Scott looks down the bench, he needs to see players who he can rely on. We’re expected to come out and perform and that’s what we did.’’
Incredibly, the Magic came into the game first in the NBA in field goal percentage allowed. That’s especially remarkable when considering that they were 28th out of 30 in that category last season. Making the statistic even more impressive, Orlando opened the season with five likely playoff teams and four of them failed to crack 40 percent from the floor.
Philadelphia shot 45 percent against the Magic – the second-best any team has fared against them this season.
Orlando was once again without Vucevic, who missed his second straight game because of a bone bruise in his right knee. Vucevic, who is averaging 15.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.4 blocks, is travelling with the team and is hoping to speed up the recovery process with twice-a-day therapy sessions.
``It’s getting better and it’s not as painful and as sore today,’’ Vuecvic said. ``It’s getting better. (Treatment) is one of the things that I can do to get it better. It’s day by day.’’
Saturday night’s game in Philadelphia concluded one of the most difficult stretches of the season for the Magic. It was their fourth game in five nights – something the NBA has tried to eliminate this season out of concern for injuries and the quality of the product on the floor for fans.
The Magic, which were scheduled to fly to Indianapolis right after the game, will get a much-needed day off on Sunday. Orlando faces the Pacers on Monday and is back at the Amway Center on Wednesday to host Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Orlando got 11 more points from the reserves in the third quarter to hold onto the lead. The took an 81-73 edge into the final period.
The Magic led 51-44 at the half, but that belied the difficulty that they had early on in the game. Orlando was sluggish at the start of the game, falling behind 13-4 and desperately searching for energy of any kind. And even after Orlando surged ahead the Sixers stormed back with 12 straight points to put Orlando back into a two-point hole.
Well aware that his team was running on fumes physically and emotionally following Friday’s hard-fought defeat of Toronto, Skiles turned to his bench early in the game and the reserves delivered. At one point, Orlando’s reserves scored 18 of the team’s first 36 points and that group accounted for 21 first-half points.
Hezonja snapped out of a mini-slump shooting the ball, making four of nine shots for eight first-half points. Smith, who has become increasingly valuable to the Magic, had four points, five rebounds and a spectacular block of an Okafor dunk attempt in the second quarter. In his 8 ½ minutes on the floor in the first two quarters, the Magic were a plus-11 on the scoreboard against the Sixers.
Gordon, who came into the game 8th in the NBA in put-back points, also gave Orlando a nice lift with his hustle and athleticism. He had a nifty tip-in with his back to the basket in the second quarter and he was a part of a key stretch where the Magic defended especially well.
The fact that the Magic have climbed to the top of the league in several primary defensive categories shows the massive potential of the Magic, especially when they are getting contributions from all over the roster.
``We know exactly what we want to do and that’s huge,’’ Gordon said. ``Once you know that, you can focus on other things. And once we get even more locked in we’re going to be even more of a force to deal with in this league.’’