DETROIT – All season long, center Nikola Vucevic has spoken realistically and with reason like the grizzled NBA veteran that he is, always stressing that regardless of the Orlando Magic’s fortunes at the time that ``things can turn around quickly in this league.’’
On Thursday, Vucevic and a Magic team that has been riding the feel-good vibes of their longest win streak in eight years was given that harsh reminder.
Facing a Detroit Pistons team that displayed much of the same grit and desperation that Orlando played with during its recent playoff push, the Magic were flattened on both ends of the floor by Andre Drummond, Blake Griffin and a hail of 3-pointers from Wayne Ellington and got routed 115-98 at Little Caesars Arena.
Orlando (37-39) not only saw its six-game winning streak – the longest for the franchise since January of 2011 – come to unceremonious end, but it was bounced from the top-eight in the East and back to ninth in the standings. The Magic came into Thursday with a chance to pass the Pistons and incredibly move into a tie for sixth place if things broke just right.
Instead, the only thing broken on Thursday was the Magic’s spirit and that left them jarringly on the outside of the playoff picture once again when Miami rallied past Dallas in South Florida later in the night. Orlando, which is again a half-game back of the rival Heat, will now face the Indiana Pacers on Saturday while facing nearly a must-win predicament once again.
``We’ve just got to get back to the way we played (Monday) night in Miami; tonight, we didn’t bring it and we’ve got to do it next time,’’ Vucevic said of Orlando’s next game. ``We’ve just got to regroup. Obviously, this time of year every loss feels like the end of the world and every win feels great, but we’ve just got to stick with it. This was a tough loss and it was a big game where we didn’t perform well, so now we’ve just got to regroup.’’
On Thursday, the only silver lining for the Magic was the fact that Brooklyn lost a second straight game – this time in Philadelphia to the star-studded 76ers. That dropped the Nets into seventh in the East. Based on the records of their remaining foes, Brooklyn has the most difficult schedule left to play. Dead ahead are games against Boston, Milwaukee, Toronto, Milwaukee again, Indiana and Miami.
A Magic team that had beaten Cleveland, Atlanta, New Orleans, Memphis, Philadelphia and Miami over the past two weeks led for all of 29 seconds at 27-25 late in the first quarter. Later, an overwhelmed Orlando squad saw the deficit swell to as much as 26 points in a runaway third quarter.
From start to finish, head coach Steve Clifford, said the Magic delivered a forgettable performance at a time they can afford to lose.
``They set the tone for that game with their first-quarter defense and I’ve got to help our guys out more with play-calling and readiness to play at the offensive end of the floor,’’ Clifford said, lumping himself into the ones to blame for the poor effort. ``So, that part is on me.
``But sometimes when you win in this league, regardless of where you’re at (in the standings), you think you’re just going to win, but tonight we just didn’t have the fight that we needed,’’ the veteran NBA coach of 19 seasons added. ``They played to their strengths. Griffin was terrific, Drummond controlled the glass and their perimeter players scored. They were on the attack with dribble-handoffs, pick-and-rolls and catch-and-shoots and we took none of their strengths away. They deserved to win.’’
Vucevic, the Magic’s longest-tenured player at seven years in pinstripes, might have seen this emotional letdown coming considering how much effort and energy Orlando poured into comeback victories over the Grizzlies, Sixers and Heat. Prior to the game he warned that even though the Magic were in the midst of playing their best basketball in years, they could see a golden opportunity to make the playoffs disappear with some struggles.
``At one point, like two weeks ago, we were totally out of it and nobody thought we were going to make it and now we’re right there with a great chance,’’ Vucevic said. ``But, at the end of the day, if we don’t take care of business over these last few games things can change for the worse rather quickly for us.’’
Evan Fournier, who struggled through a six-of-15 shooting night and one-of-seven from 3-point range performance, knows that all too well. He insisted that while the pressure is back on the Magic to win every game the rest of the way, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
``There is no time to dwell … six games left and a tough schedule ahead of us, but we’re going to have to go get it and earn it,’’ Fournier said. ``(Facing the) Pacers is going to be a helluva game, so we’ve got to be ready.’’
The plight of the usually reliable Vucevic on Thursday summed up the night for the Magic. Needing 15 points to pass Shaquille O’Neal and move into fifth on Orlando’s all-time scoring list, the team’s leading scorer (20.6 points per game) finished with just 12 points and 12 rebounds in 33 minutes. He made only five of 15 shots against Drummond’s defense.
He didn’t get much help from his teammates either as Orlando shot just 39.4 percent from the floor and made only eight of 31 3-point shots. Aaron Gordon (20 points) and D.J. Augustin (13 points and three assists) led the way, while Fournier (13 points), Jonathan Isaac (10 points) and Terrence Ross (10 points) struggled with their shots from long range.
``Their level of physicality and toughness level, I don’t think we were ready for that and that was disappointing,’’ said Gordon, who has had trouble with Griffin’s power in the post in all four meetings this season. ``Any time you lose like this, it’s a disappointing loss. But we have opportunities to make it up in Indiana and that’s what we’re going to do.
Detroit (38-37) snapped a three-game winning streak and used the victory to do some other damage in the standings. The Pistons, who made 53.5 percent from the floor and drilled 17 3-pointers, won the season series over the Magic, 3-1. That could prove costly for Orlando if the two teams finish tied at season’s end.
Also, the Pistons extended their home winning streak to 10 games – a somewhat shocking fact considering that their home arena has been mostly empty most if the season. The announced crowd of 18,128 was several thousand shy of that at tipoff and at the end when the Pistons had the lopsided victory well in hand.
Wayne Ellington, who previously burned the Magic while a member of the Miami Heat, scored 17 of his 25 points in the third period alone. Ellington, a midseason pickup by the Pistons after he was traded by Miami and waived by Phoenix, hit seven of 13 3-pointers in the game. He made his first three 3-pointers of the first half and drilled five shots from beyond the arc in the third quarter.
The burly Griffin proved to be too much inside for Orlando, scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Drummond blocked four shots in the game’s first six minutes and finished with 18 points, 18 rebounds, six blocks and four assists in the one-sided victory.
``They’ve got good players, they made a lot of shots and it was a big game for them, too,’’ Gordon said. ``So, credit their play, but at the same time we’ve got to have a better defensive performance in Indiana.’’
Clifford warned the Magic that their sluggish starts to the wins over Philadelphia and Miami could eventually come back to hurt them, but that message didn’t seem to carry over to Thursday. Orlando wiped out slow starts in the previous two games with strong third-period performances against Philadelphia (32-17) and Miami (34-19).
Down 14 at the half, Orlando surrendered 15 points in the first four minutes of the third quarter and never seriously challenged again. The Magic shockingly found themselves in a 94-71 hole after three periods.
The Magic trailed 60-46 at the half, and quite frankly, they were lucky to be that close considering how much they were outplayed on both ends of the floor. Orlando’s only lead over the first 24 minutes of the game came at 27-25 following a rapid-fire burst of eight consecutive points by Augustin.
That Magic lead of two points lasted just 29 seconds.
Orlando will have to be infinitely better on Saturday against Indiana – a team that the Magic have already beaten twice this season – and Clifford thinks his squad will be up to the challenge.
``We’ve got to be able to come back here and handle success and disappointment – all year, but particularly this time of year,’’ Clifford said. ``I think we’ll do that.’’
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