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Denton: Magic vs. Hawks Analysis (12/29/13)

Josh Cohen
Digital News Manager

After Oladipo’s stellar, box score-filling effort, Vaughn said he would never be one to place the `point guard’ or `shooting guard’ labels on his rookie because his skill set spills over into both positions.

``The versatility (he possesses), and that’s why we really stay away from saying that he’s a point guard or a shooting guard,’’ Vaughn said. ``He’s a basketball player and there’s nothing wrong with being that.’’

Orlando led from the first basket of the game to the first few minutes of the fourth quarter before Atlanta (17-14) took a couple of one-point leads. But Orlando responded with a 9-0 spurt to reclaim control of the game.

Oladipo was hardly the only Magic player to perform exceptionally well in the Magic’s second straight defeat of Atlanta. Arron Afflalo shook off constant double teams and a sore ankle and finished strong in a 21-point, seven-assist performance. Nikola Vucevic had 16 points and 14 rebounds, including the tip-in that put Orlando up 93-85 with 5:12 to play.

``I knew I could walk, but I didn’t practice (on Saturday) and I didn’t do much in shootaround today. My ankle was still sore, but I knew that I could play, said Afflalo, referring to the injury he suffered in Friday’s win. ``If you can play, play, but if you can’t, go sit down and don’t be in between. I just got out there and saw how long I could go.’’

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