INDIANAPOLIS – The Orlando Magic have elbowed their way back into playoff contention by playing some of the best defense in the NBA, getting more production from their reserves and riding the nightly consistency of all-star center Nikola Vucevic.
However, without the clutch, save-the-day fourth-quarter play of super sub Terrence Ross, the Magic almost certainly wouldn’t be anywhere near as close to the postseason as they are now.
Ross, Orlando’s top scorer all season in the fourth quarter all season, stunned the crowd at Bankerslife Fieldhouse by scoring 16 of his 23 points in the final period to lead the Magic to a stirring 117-112 defeat of an Indiana Pacers team that had haunted them for years prior to this season.
``That’s when you really dial in and everything matters,’’ Ross said of the fourth quarter. ``Not saying that the first three (quarters) don’t, but you always have that extra juice at the end of the game. I was just trying to get the next bucket again and again. When I hit one or two, then it just kind of makes me want another one, another one and another one. I’m always looking for that spark.’’
Orlando (30-34) won for the eighth time this season when trailing after three periods, tying the Golden State Warriors, Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Clippers and Sacramento Kings for the most come-from-behind victories in the final period. Also, it was the second time this season that the Magic wiped out a deficit in the fourth period thanks to the white-hot, electrifying shooting of Ross against the Pacers (41-23).
``He doesn’t need much room,’’ Magic coach Steve Clifford said of Ross’ torrid fourth-quarter scoring spree. ``He had a couple of (3-pointers) and then he mixed it up well. They were very much locked into him, but I thought he did a good job moving without the ball.
``The one thing is, they all understand to get him the ball,’’ Clifford continued. ``And then he makes the right play, too.’’
Orlando outscored Indiana 34-25 in the final period because Ross was at his do-it-all best for the biggest stretch of the night. He was five of nine from the floor, two of five from 3-point range and he made all four of his free throws in the game-turning fourth quarter.
``It’s funny because it comes out of nowhere (for Ross). He has five points and then all of a sudden, the `Human Torch’ comes in,’’ Evan Fournier said of Ross’ new nickname among fans and teammates. ``It’s such a big part of what we do. When T-Ross comes in and makes shots for us, it changes the whole momentum for us. He was a huge spark.’’
Indiana had given the Magic fits for years, beating them 15 of 17 times prior to Saturday. The two teams split the first two meetings this season, but that was only after the Magic rallied in the fourth quarter behind the hot shooting of Ross. On Saturday, the Magic won at BankersLife Fieldhouse for the first time since March 31, 2016.
Orlando also got 27 points from Nikola Vucevic and 19 from guard Evan Fournier, who sealed it with a 3-pointer with 8.4 seconds to play. The Magic won for a 10th time in the past 13 games and are back in a tie with Charlotte for the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Ross, who had a big fourth-quarter performance in Thursday’s thrilling home defeat of Golden State, came into Saturday ranked fifth in the NBA among reserves in fourth-quarter scoring at 5.2 points per night. He is easily the Magic’s leader in that category, and his 5.2 points a night in the fourth period are his most in any quarter (2.5 in the first, 4.7 in the second and 2.2 in the third).
The seven-year veteran did it again on Saturday when Orlando headed into the fourth trailing 87-83. At that point of the night, Ross had just seven points after connecting on just three of eight shots and one of six 3-point shots. That did nothing to ding his confidence heading into the final period.
``There’s still a lot of time. The first, second and third quarters aren’t going away and there’s still a lot of time,’’ Ross said of his mindset when the fourth quarter of games begins. ``You don’t have to score a bunch of points, but if you have five points and a bunch of momentum-switching plays, that’s what you want.’’
Ross had a 3-pointer from the corner seconds into the period and his 3-pointer with 10:36 to play gave Orlando its first lead (91-90) since the first quarter. However, Ross was just getting heated up. He had a nifty three-point play off a finger roll layup and a dribble-handoff jumper that put the Magic ahead 107-102 with 4:08 to play. Then, the NBA’s leader in made 3-pointers among all reserves was hit as he attempted another long jumper and he sank three free throws with 1:44 to play that seemed to seal things for Orlando.
However, the Magic struggled down the stretch, fouling Wes Matthews on a 3-point attempt and botching other sequences. Darren Collison drilled a 3-pointer with 35 seconds to play and Myles Turner converted a layup following an Aaron Gordon turnover to get Indiana within 114-112 with 29.7 seconds to play.
Fournier, who came into the night with a stomach ailment, then sealed the victory with a one-on-one 3-pointer with 8.4 seconds to play.
``When you have a mid-pick-and-roll like that it usually turns into a jump shot because you rarely get to the rim like you can early in the game,’’ Fournier said. ``I was just looking for some air space. I wasn’t thinking three or two, but I knew a jump shot was coming. I was just tried to run the clock down, I had a look that I liked, and I let it fly.’’
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 25 points, while Darren Collison added 23 for the Pacers.
Jonathan Isaac added 12 points and eight rebounds, while Gordon chipped in 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Orlando shot 50.5 percent for the game and 54.5 percent with five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.
Magic point guard D.J. Augustin injured his right ankle late in the second quarter and was only able to play briefly in the third period before sitting out the remainder of the game. Augustin, who finished with three points, four assists and two rebounds in 17 minutes, rolled his ankle on a breakaway layup late in the second quarter. His availability for Sunday’s game in Cleveland is very much up in the air.
``I stepped kind of funny when I went to play … I stepped kind of on the side of my shoe and I rolled my ankle,’’ Augustin said. ``I could move on defense (in the third quarter) and if I can’t help on defense, it doesn’t make any sense for me to be out there. I tried to get back out there and play but it was too painful.’’
Jerian Grant (seven points, two assists, one steal and one block) and Isaiah Briscoe (four points and a steal) filled in nicely for Augustin. Grant, who was a plus-nine in his 12 minutes on the floor, will likely start on Sunday if Augustin can’t play.
``It’s not bad, but it’s pretty painful right now and I’m going to do whatever I can tonight to get it right for the game (on Sunday) and see how it feels,’’ Augustin said. ``But we have some big games coming up and we have an off day in Philly (on Monday) and we’ll see how it goes.’’
From his seat on the bench, Augustin had a good view of Ross’ heroics in the fourth quarter. A veteran of 11 NBA seasons, Augustin marvels at how Ross can almost single-handedly take over games in the fourth quarter. Like a boxer with a knock-out punch, a baseball team with a dominant closer or a football team with a clutch quarterback in the two-minute drill, Ross has become one of Orlando’s most lethal weapons late in games.
``Every team needs a guy like that and he’s been doing it all season, being consistent,’’ Augustin said. ``He’s making shots for us when we need it the most.’’
Already weary from several days of travel and a string of games in recent days, the Magic will be back in action on Sunday night when they face the Cavaliers in Cleveland. This season, Orlando is 12-10 in back-to-back-sets of games. They went into Saturday’s game in Indiana an impressive 8-3 on the first night, but just 4-7 on the second night of those scenarios.
Cleveland, which got throttled on Saturday by Detroit, will also be playing on the second night of a back-to-back. Star forward Kevin Love, who recently scored 26 points in a win over the Knicks, rested his surgically repaired foot on Saturday, but is scheduled to play against the Magic on Sunday.
The Magic beat Cleveland 102-100 on Nov. 5 at the Amway Center when Fournier drilled a buzzer-beating jump shot from 22 feet.
Down five at intermission, the Magic made several runs at the Pacers in the third period, but they could never overtake them and trailed 87-83 heading into the fourth. Vucevic had 12 of Orlando’s 28 in the period, but Indiana was able to stay on top thanks to 53.1 percent shooting.
The Magic trailed 60-55 at the half, but they had bigger issues at the point guard position with what happened early on to Augustin and Isaiah Briscoe.
Augustin knocked the ball away from Cory Joseph late in the second quarter and after dribbling nearly the length of the floor his left ankle buckled as he jumped for a layup. Augustin, who had three points, three assists and a steal in the first half, was able to get to his feet and briefly stay in the game before ultimately limping off and heading to the Magic locker room. He tried playing in the third quarter, before checking himself out of the game.
All that mattered late in the night was the red-hot shooting of Ross, who scored at will at times in the fourth quarter even though Indiana coach Nate McMillan said prior to the game that the shooting guard was ``right up at the top’’ of Indiana’s scouting report. Ultimately, his fourth-quarter production was good enough to keep the Magic’s superior success of late going.
``We’ve got a lot of resiliency and a lot of fight on this team,’’ Ross said. ``We don’t roll over easy. We’re always going to try and fight our way back into games. That’s just the nature of this league, always fighting to find a way in the fourth quarter.’’
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