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By John DentonOct. 13, 2014
CHARLOTTE -- In a matter of seconds on Monday night, rookie Elfrid Payton showed off the rare combination of skills that made the Orlando Magic fall in love with him in last June’s NBA Draft and eagerly anticipate his future.
However, in a game-turning fourth quarter, Payton’s strong start to the night was undone when he was forced to stomach a hearty taste of reality.
Hustling back on defense to stop a Charlotte fastbreak early in the game, Payton darted in to knock the ball away from Lance Stephenson. Payton then pushed the ball back at the Hornets, pump-faked to get a defender in the air and elevated for a scoop shot. The shot was goal-tended, resulting in two points for the rookie point guard.
It is merely the preseason and plenty of growing pains are undoubtedly ahead, but Payton showed promise in the first start of his professional career. If there were any nerves, the 20-year-old didn’t show any in the Magic’s 99-97 loss to the Hornets at Time Warner Cable Arena.
Payton played a solid first half, but he missed a running shot in the lane with four seconds to play that could have tied the game. After gathering the rebound, Payton’s heave just before the horn was swatted away for the first loss of the preseason for Orlando (2-1).
``I was just trying to attack. I got to the spot where I was comfortable shooting and I’ve just got to knock it down,’’ Payton said. ``I got the offensive rebound and I saw (Dewayne) Dedmon open but I thought it would be tough for him to catch it and go up in time. I just tried to get it up and I think Al (Jefferson) got a piece of it.’’
Payton played well for most of the game, finishing with 14 points, six rebounds and five assists in 31 minutes. Payton started strong, but faded in the second half, missing six of his final seven shots and struggling to defend reserve guard Jannero Pargo (16 points all in the fourth quarter).
Magic head coach Jacque Vaughn didn’t call timeout when Orlando regained possession with 14.9 seconds remaining because he wanted to see how his rookie point guard would react to the final sequence where Orlando needed a basket to force overtime.
``To be able to be present in the now and not rely on me to draw up something, this is a great opportunity for our guys to learn,’’ Vaughn said. ``(Payton) will watch it on film, see what was available, see if he liked his look and what the defense played it. A lot can be learned from this.’’
Ben Gordon, who struggled mightily in two seasons in Charlotte, was in attack mode throughout the game and scored 17 points. Despite being booed by Hornets fans who remembered his struggles in Charlotte, the 31-year-old Gordon hit six of 10 shots and all five of his free throws to give Orlando a huge lift off the bench.
``(His history in Charlotte) didn’t factor at all and it was just another game for me,’’ Gordon said. ``I was kind of surprised that the crowd was booing me. Other than that, it was just another game.’’
Tobias Harris continued to be Orlando’s most consistent player this preseason and added 14 points, nine rebounds and two assists in 30 minutes. Magic rookie forward Aaron Gordon (nine points and seven rebounds) missed his first six shots, but he recovered in time to drill the first two 3-pointers of his professional career in the third quarter.
``I couldn’t get into a rhythm, but I work on threes all of the time and work on my jumper all of the time. So what’s the point of working on it all of the time if you’re not going to shoot it in the game?’’ Aaron Gordon said. ``So there was no hesitation. I know I can make it and I’ll make more.’’
Down much of the night following some shaky defense early in the game, the Magic mounted a charge in the third quarter to storm into the lead. Payton had consecutive assists – a pick-and-roll pass to a cutting Nikola Vucevic for a layup and a drive-and-kick find to Aaron Gordon for a 3-pointer that gave Orlando a 64-63 lead. The Magic made 12 of 18 shots in the third period and outscored the Hornets 28-16 in the period.
Harris said the way that Payton set others up for easy baskets in the third quarter was no surprise to him. He’s been the recipient of many of those feeds throughout training camp from the first true pass-first point guard that the Magic have had in years.
``(Payton) did great. He’s a guy who’s throughout our practices has proven himself to be the real deal,’’ said Harris, who is averaging 15 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3 assists in 25 minutes a game in the preseason. ``He comes in every day and works hard and he has a great pace to his game. He plays the game with a good IQ and he’s a fearless. He likes to go back at the other point guards and I thought he did a great job tonight.’’
Jefferson led the Hornets with 20 points in 30 minutes. Outplayed a couple of times last season by Vucevic, Jefferson again had trouble with the Magic 7-footer’s length and made just eight of 20 shots. Two of those tries were stuffed at the rim by Vucevic.
At long last, the Magic will make their preseason home debut on Wednesday night. Orlando will face Brazilian powerhouse, Flamengo, at 7 p.m. at the Amway Center. Flamengo, which features former NBA player Walter Hermann, lost to the Suns in Phoenix last Wednesday.
Orlando was once again without likely starters Victor Oladipo (sprained MCL) and Channing Frye (sprained MCL) and reserve guard Willie Green (hyper-extended knee). Oladipo worked out hard before the game, putting up several shots and doing some vigorous sprint work. Frye also continued to increase his workload by doing some light shooting on his healing knee.
Payton didn’t seem one bit hesitant in the first half of his first start as a pro, pumping in 11 points in the first 24 minutes. Payton, who made five of his first eight shots, converted a runner with four seconds left in the second quarter it allowed Orlando to pull within 57-50 by halftime.
Payton and Charlotte point guard Kemba Walker had quite the exchange in the first quarter when each of them kept going back and forth at one another. After Payton broke backdoor for a dunk, Walker drove on the Magic guard for a layup. Not to be outdone, Payton attacked the rim on the next possession and got another layup.
``I thought he did a good job and he didn’t back down from a very tough-playing Kemba Walker,’’ Ben Gordon said of his Magic teammate. ``You saw every time that Kemba made a play Elfrid tried to come right back and make another play. … He has poise, he’s gritty and he’s not going to get shaken. I think he’s one of those guys who just sort of loses himself in the game. He’s a really tough competitor.’’
Harris, who put in hours of work over the summer to expand his shooting range, drilled a 3-pointer on his first try of the night. Harris has been Orlando’s most consistent player this preseason and he had 11 points and six rebounds in the first half alone.
Good defensively in the first two preseason games, Orlando was repeatedly gashed early in Monday’s game. Charlotte made 15 of its first 24 shots (62.5 percent) and scored 36 first-quarter points largely by getting into the paint for nine baskets (18 points).
Payton said he liked the fact that Vaughn trusted him enough not to call timeout on the final possession of the game to set up a play. Payton vowed to study the tape of the play and be better in the future on similar situations.
``I was comfortable with (no timeout), My thinking was to just do what I’m comfortable always doing and that’s getting into the paint and trying to make a play,’’ said Payton, who made six of 15 shots in the game. ``We got two pretty good looks at the end of the game, but now we’ve just got to make the shots, make the play next time.’’