ORLANDO – The Magic’s first game-winning shot of the decade came on Monday night in Sacramento, as Aaron Gordon converted on a go-ahead AND-1 bucket with 1.1 seconds remaining. The 6-foot-8, 220-pounder, who returned to the starting lineup after missing Orlando’s last game in Phoenix with a sore calf, knocked down the free throw also.
Gordon’s shot wasn’t the Magic’s only clutch basket down the stretch, however. Here is a rundown of how the final three-plus minutes played out:
- De’Aaron Fox makes a driving layup with 3:18 left to pull Sacramento within two.
- Terrence Ross, following an Orlando timeout, drills an off-screen, catch-and-shoot 3-pointer with 3:05 left to extend the Magic’s lead to five.
- Fox, who finished with 31 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists, buries a short jumper on the Kings’ ensuing possession.
- Evan Fournier, who scored eight of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, knifes his way through the lane and finishes at the rim. On Orlando’s ensuing possession, the 6-foot-7 Frenchman sinks a pair of foul shots. After Marvin Bagley III makes a layup, Fournier connects on another driving layup with 1:17 remaining to push the Magic’s lead back to seven.
- Nemanja Bjelica, who was scorching hot all night from downtown, drains one of his eight 3-pointers with 1:15 left to cut Orlando’s lead to four. Fox, following a Magic turnover, slices the deficit in half with a layup and then gives Sacramento the lead with his own AND-1 bucket with 15.8 seconds left.
- Then, on the Magic’s final possession, Fournier, as he’s caught up in the air, finds Gordon for his game winner.
While it was the first time Gordon made a winning shot in the final seconds of a game, it wasn’t his first clutch shot of his career. Two seasons ago, the now 24-year-old drilled huge 3-pointers in games against the Nets and Grizzlies. Last year, on the night the Magic clinched their first playoff berth in seven years, he made a critical cutting layup down the stretch, which helped seal Orlando’s win over Boston.