ORLANDO – At a couple of different points late on Friday, as Orlando was rallying back in the fourth quarter and overtime and the delirious crowd inside the Amway Center was roaring with noise, Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier realized their dreams for the Magic were finally coming true.
Together in Orlando the past five seasons, Vucevic and Fournier have often talked about what it would be like to bring winning basketball and excitement back to the Magic. The two had heard numerous stories from former teammates Jameer Nelson, Hedo Turkoglu and J.J. Redick and even current head coach Steve Clifford about the franchise’s most recent glory days and how electric the Amway Center would be during big games.
On Friday, when the Magic rallied from 17 points down with some stirring fourth-quarter play and more clutch work in overtime for a 123-119 defeat of Memphis, the Amway Center crowd of 18,025 throbbed with raw emotion throughout.
The magnitude of the moment wasn’t lost on Vucevic and Fournier, the two longest-tenured players on the roster.
``We talk about it a lot,’’ said Vucevic, referring to his conversations with Fournier about leading the Magic to success. ``When I was here my first year with Jameer, JJ, Turk and Glen ``Big Baby’’ (Davis), they used to tell me about how the city was crazy about the Magic when they were winning. Obviously, our fans are great all the time, but when you are winning it brings the best out of them as well.
``We can already feel it,’’ added Vucevic, who had 25 points in Friday’s OT win. ``When I go around the city, people are really pumped now and they’re really into it. You could feel it last game (against Memphis) when they were really behind us and really wanted us to win. That’s why if we could make the playoffs, this would be huge for us and for the whole city.’’
Orlando (35-38) has itself in position to potentially make the playoffs for the first time since 2012, but a difficult set of games over the next two nights will likely decide its fate. A Magic squad one game out of the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference standings hosts the Philadelphia 76ers (47-26) on Monday before travelling to South Florida to face the rival Miami Heat (36-37) on Tuesday.
Orlando will pour all of its focus into trying to beat the star-studded 76ers at the Amway Center for a second time this season. On Nov. 14, Orlando wiped out a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter with a 21-0 burst and ultimately got a game-winning 3-pointer from Terrence Ross.
``I remember it well and that was a big, big game,’’ said Fourier. ``T-Ross had an amazing game and the game-winning shot and it was definitely one of the best wins we’ve had all year. Philly is a helluva team and (Joel) Embiid is obviously a problem. And that was their first game with (guard) Jimmy (Butler), so they had a ton of energy and all the hype. But it was good for us.’’
What wasn’t good for the Magic was missing their first eight shots, falling behind by 13 points in the first half and digging themselves a 17-point hole in the third quarter on Friday. But Orlando followed a familiar formula to capture what amounted to being a must-win – Ross (12 fourth-quarter points) heated up late and Fournier came through in the clutch once again with a tying basket with 17.7 seconds remaining in regulation and seven more points in OT.
For Fournier, the night was both excruciating and exhilarating. For so much of the game, he worried that Orlando was frittering away its chance to make the playoffs. In the end, the Magic came through – thanks, in large part, to his 27 points.
``It wasn’t fun because for three quarters it was like, `Oh my God, the season’s about to end right now,’’ he said. ``You obviously don’t want to be in that position.’’
But in a matter of 17 minutes of action – 12 in the fourth quarter and five in overtime – the Magic’s fortunes changed thanks to some improved defense and clutch shot-making. Afterward, Clifford – who was an assistant coach on the Magic teams that reached the NBA Finals in 2009 and the Eastern Conference Finals in 2010 – lauded Orlando’s fans for aiding in the comeback victory.
``For this group of guys, to me, it’s the first time they’ve gotten a taste of what the Orlando fan base can do for a team because they were really a big part of (Friday’s victory),’’ Clifford said. ``The (noise during the) second half and overtime, I just told the guys that used to be every night (when Clifford was in Orlando from 2007-12). I think the guys got a taste of what this fan base (can do and) how supportive they can be and what a difference they can be at home.’’
After six seasons of mostly struggles, the Magic have given the home fans something to cheer about this season. Already, Orlando has clinched its first winning record at home since 2015, and with a victory on Monday it can tie for the second-most home victories in a season since 2010-11. Also, the Magic have won 10 of the last 11 at the Amway Center and six straight – the longest such successful run at home since Dec. 23, 2010-Jan. 21, 2011.
That victory on Friday finally allowed Fournier and Vucevic to hear the kind of excitable noise from the fans that they have discussed and dreamed about for years. The ear-splitting noise was, Fournier said, music to his ears.
``That was the loudest I’ve heard the Amway be by far and (hearing the crowd) was the fun part,’’ said Fournier, a member of the Magic for five years. ``It makes you wonder what it’s going to be like if we continue to play this way and continue to win. It can only get bigger and bigger and we want more and more. We can’t settle for less.’’
Vucevic, the team leader all season in scoring (20.7) and rebounding (12.1), knows if the Magic can knock off the Sixers on Monday and play well in upcoming road games against Miami (Tuesday), Detroit (Thursday), Indiana (Saturday) and Toronto (April 1), they will put themselves in playoff position and host even more big games in front of their fans.
``(Fournier and him) talk about it and, obviously, as players we try every game, but when you get that energy from the fans (it makes it better) and you enjoy being in the moment,’’ he said of the excitement in Orlando. ``When you go around the city, you’d rather hear, `Hey, great job, guys,’ than `Well, we’ll get ‘em next year.’
``Orlando has people behind us all the time, but as hard as it is on us players, when you cheer for a team all the time, you want them to win (and it’s difficult for the fans),’’ he added. ``Hopefully, we can bring this franchise back to the playoffs this year.’’
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