By John Denton Dec. 21, 2013
ORLANDO – The Orlando Magic had their most potent lineup healthy and clicking much of Saturday night and across the way was a Sacramento Kings team seemingly on fumes from playing a fourth time in five nights.
And for three quarters, the game seemed to be going according to script with the Magic playing much better offensively and staying just ahead of the mercurial Kings.
But when Rudy Gay and Marcus Thornton – a Magic killer for a second straight year – got hot in the fourth quarter and the Magic couldn’t find any consistency from either the floor or the free throw line, the result was a sour finish to what seemed to be a night filled with promise.
When the Magic inexplicably went cold to start the fourth quarter and missed nine free throws in the game they had no one to blame but themselves for the 105-100 loss to the Kings.
``I thought we were playing well, but then they made a run. For us to make the step as a team and get to where we need to be, we’re going to have to be stronger mentally,’’ said Magic forward Tobias Harris, who had 21 points in the loss. ``We have to push it right back at them when they made runs and not let that affect us as a team. It’s a growing step for us and going into our next game we have to have that mentality if things aren’t going our way.’’
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