ORLANDO – For almost seven years, center Nikola Vucevic has piled up gobs of gaudy statistics and even a few franchise records while his Orlando Magic have mostly struggled to win games.
For the most part, Vucevic said there’s always been a certain bit of hollowness in stacking up impressive numbers, only to see them not lead to winning.
On Thursday, Vucevic finally got to fully enjoy the greatest highlight of his professional career – his description – as the Magic captured a much-needed victory.
Minutes prior to Thursday’s National Anthem at the Amway Center, Vucevic found out that he had been chosen by the coaches in the Eastern Conference as an NBA All-Star for the first time in his career. Then, after calming his surging emotions, Vucevic went out and scored 17 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and handed out five assists in the Orlando’s stirring, come-from-behind 107-100 defeat of the Indiana Pacers.
Vucevic got plenty of help from Terrence Ross (30 points and five 3-pointers), D.J. Augustin (20 points, 10 of 10 free throws) and Jonathan Isaac (13 points and a career-best 13 rebounds) as Orlando outscored Indiana 38-27 in the fourth quarter. The Magic made 12 of 18 shots in the final period and got big late pushes from Augustin (14 fourth-quarter points) and Ross (13 fourth-quarter points) for the victory.
Orlando lost in 2017 when Vucevic scored a career-best 41 points in Brooklyn and it fell on the final night of 2012 when he set a franchise record with 29 rebounds in an OT loss to Miami. Additionally, the Magic lost last season in Atlanta and this season in Philadelphia when he was at his do-everything best in posting the only two triple-doubles of his career. At long last on Thursday, Vucevic – the longest-tenured player on the Magic roster – could savor an individual accomplishment following a Magic victory.
``The winning takes care of everything and it will bring everything that you need as an individual,’’ Vucevic said after being doused with water and ice by his teammates in a joyous Magic locker room. ``Lately, we haven’t had much success in the last two weeks, but I really feel like we’re not far away. For the most part of this season, we’ve played well and have been right there. We’re (four) games out, so things could change really quickly for us. We have a group of guys who believe that we can make (the playoffs) and tonight was a great example.’’
With the win, Orlando (21-31) ended a four-game losing streak. It’s the fourth time this season that the Magic have stopped a four-game skid by beating a team currently in the top eight of the standings in the Eastern and Western Conference standings. They followed up the previous three four-game skids with stirring defeats of playoff powers San Antonio (Nov. 4), Toronto (Dec. 28) and Boston (Jan. 12). This time, they beat Indiana (32-19), which has dropped four straight games since losing all-star guard Victor Oladipo for the season because of a quad injury. Like Vucevic, Oladipo – a Magic standout from 2013-16 – was named an all-star reserve on Thursday.
Down 73-69 at the end of the third period, the Magic rallied behind they dynamic play of Ross. He scored Orlando’s first five points of the fourth to cut the deficit to one and then the combination of a pull-up jumper, a steal that he converted into a dunk and two more free throws gave the Magic an 85-81 lead it would not surrender.
``Thankfully, (Ross) is such a dependable player,’’ Magic head coach Steve Clifford said of his team’s top reserve all season. ``We don’t win many nights when he’s not scoring. He’s that important to our team.’’
Indiana has given the Magic fits for years, and for most of Thursday that was no different. The Magic’s rally in the fourth quarter allowed them to end their losing streak to Indiana at eight games – a skid that extended across parts of the past three seasons.
Including the Pacers’ 112-90 win at the Amway Center on Dec. 7, the Magic came into Thursday having beaten the Magic in 15 of the past 16 games. Prior to Thursday, Orlando had last defeated Indiana March 31, 2016 in Indiana and on Feb. 9, 2014 at the Amway Center.
An Orlando team that shot 40 percent most of the night drilled 12 of 18 shots in the fourth quarter (66.6 percent). Five Magic players scored in double figures. Augustin made all 10 of his free throws – nine of them coming in the final 1:26 of the game to ice the victory. Isaac, the Magic’s prized second-year player, received high praise from Clifford after the game for his activity that allowed him to affect the game on both ends.
``The two things I said to the team after the game were D.J.’s free throws and Jonathan’s overall competitive spirit,’’ Clifford said. ``(Isaac) had traffic rebounds, he had traffic blocked shots, he had a bunch of hustle plays and he had a huge drive when he finished with his left hand after they had cut it down to five. I thought he was really good.’’
Myles Turner led the Pacers with 27 points, while Bojan Bogdanovic chipped in 21 points and Thaddeus Young added 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Minutes prior to tipoff Vucevic found out that he was chosen to the NBA All-Star Game for the first time in his eight-year NBA career. Clearly, the 7-footer was honored for averaging career highs in scoring, rebounding, assists and blocked shots while almost single-handedly keeping the Magic in the playoff race with his nightly consistency. Vucevic became the Magic’s first all-star since 2012 and the ninth player in franchise history to be picked to play in the league’s marquee midseason game.
Under a new format started last season, captains and leading vote-getters LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo will choose the teams for the Feb. 17 All-Star Game on Feb. 7 in a made-for-TV event. Vucevic was joined by Victor Oladipo, Kyle Lowry, Blake Griffin, Khris Middleton, Ben Simmons, Brad Beal as the reserves from the Eastern Conference. Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, Nikola Jokic, Damian Lillard, Klay Thompson, LaMarcus Aldridge and Karl-Anthony Towns were selected by the league’s head coaches as the reserves from the Western Conference.
``The thing, I think, that makes it more special when you are a reserve is that the coaches pick you,’’ Vucevic said. ``They’re the ones you play against. They coach against you every night and when I know that they saw what I’ve done this season and they respected that, it means so much for me.’’
The Magic led by three at the half, but saw things go downhill quickly in an ugly third period. Indiana had a 9-0 burst early in the third period that ultimately turned into a 17-4 run. However, the Magic were able to stay able to stay within striking distance and headed into the fourth period down just 73-69.
Orlando came into Thursday just 5-24 when trailing after three quarters. On this night, however, the Magic rallied behind Ross, Augustin and Isaac to ensure that Vucevic had plenty of reason to feel good about his all-star nomination.
As has been the case all season, Vucevic did a little bit of everything in the early going to spur the Orlando offense and keep the team within striking distance. He had 13 points, six rebounds and two assists in the first 24 minutes. One of those assists went to a cutting Isaac for a layup in traffic.
Afterward, the Magic celebrated afterward with a teammate who is universally liked because of his humble nature, professionalism and workman-like attitude.
Vucevic said when he goes to Charlotte to compete in the Feb. 17 NBA All-Star Game he will do so while proudly thinking of the teammates, organization and Magic fan base that has supported him for seven years as the organization has struggled to find much success.
``A great night, one of the best nights, obviously, that I’ve had in my professional career,’’ said Vucevic, whose hair, clothes and skin were still wet from the postgame ice bath given to him by his joyous teammates. ``It’s an amazing feeling being selected as an all-star.
``Obviously, I made it, but my team helped me so much get to this level this season,’’ added Vucevic, who has averaged 20.6 points, 12 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.14 blocked shots – all career-best numbers – over 51 games. ``My teammates believed in me all year long and the new coaching staff pushed me every day to play even better. Once I started the season well, they all got behind me and kept pushing me to play even better. As much as it’s an individual award, it’s a team award. I’ll be there representing my whole organization and my teammates and I’m proud of that.’’
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