OKLAHOMA CITY – In a season dominated by their wildly erratic play and consistently inconsistent nature – sometimes from game to game and occasionally in the midst of the same game – the Orlando Magic offered up a microcosm on Tuesday night that summed up their frustration.
After scoring a season-best 69 points in Tuesday’s first half and threatening to run away from the surging Oklahoma City Thunder, the Magic were mostly defenseless in a second half where they surrendered a staggering, season-worst 70 points. The final result, and the festering frustration that followed, was all too familiar for Orlando.
Up as much as 12 points early in the second half, Orlando looked on mostly helplessly as Oklahoma City used a game-turning 31-13 burst in the third quarter and another 13-5 run early in the fourth for a 132-122 defeat of the Magic.
``Did we do something different in the third quarter? Nah, but they scored 30-plus points in all four quarters and we could just never stop them,’’ said Magic guard Evan Fournier, who poured in 25 points and hit four 3-pointers to keep Orlando within striking distance. ``In the third quarter, we just couldn’t score enough and basically got outscored. We never got stops. We had great energy tonight and we competed, but we could never get stops consistently.’’
Orlando (22-32) yielded 36 points in the third quarter and 34 in the fourth for 70 second-half points. The Magic came into the night riding a modest two-game winning streak after beating Indiana and Brooklyn late last week. However, the Magic’s defensive struggles in the second half – OKC had a stretch spanning the third and fourth periods where it scored on 13 straight possessions – cost them a chance a tying their season-best winning streak of three games (Nov. 14-18).
``It’s tough because we’re a better defensive team than that,’’ said Magic forward Jonathan Isaac, who had 14 points, four rebounds and two blocked shots in nearly 29 minutes. ``They hurt us with the pick-and-roll tonight and it’s just frustrating.’’
As was the case a week ago when the two teams played in Orlando, OKC stars Paul George (39 points) and Russell Westbrook (a triple-double with 16 points, 16 assists and 15 rebounds) were dominant. But others such as Dennis Schroder (20 points), Jerami Grant (19 points and 11 rebounds) and Steve Adams (14 points) hurt Orlando when it paid too much attention to Westbrook and George.
``Most of Schroder’s (points) were high pick-and-roll, so it didn’t have much to do with anybody else,’’ Magic coach Steve Clifford said.
``The biggest thing, to me, and this happened more when we broke the (starting) lineup is the guys on the ball should never get picked,’’ Clifford added, referring to his team’s difficulties in guarding Westbrook and Schroder on pick-and-roll plays. ``Every time that (point guard) gets hit, it’s a mistake. The guy (guarding the screener) didn’t talk early enough or (Orlando’s guard) didn’t get into the ball enough. Tonight, I’d say we didn’t get into the ball and if you don’t get into the ball you have no shot.’’
Terrence Ross led the Magic with 26 points and five 3-pointers off the bench. With the NBA deadline looming on Thursday, Ross is hopeful that he will still be with the Magic when they host Minnesota later than night and as the franchise attempts to make a playoff push over the final two months of the season.
Aaron Gordon, who traded barbs with Westbrook most of the game before fouling out late in the fourth quarter, finished with 18 points and a career-best 10 assists. Nikola Vucevic, who was named an NBA All-Star last week for the first time in his career, chipped in 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists, but he missed all four of his shot attempts in the fourth quarter.
While Gordon was happy about his 10 assists, he was bothered by the fact that he turned the ball over eight times. OKC, the NBA’s top team in forcing turnovers and scoring off those miscues, forced 18 Orlando turnovers and converted them into 20 points.
``We’ve got to keep moving the ball; we were holding it a little too long, myself included,’’ Gordon said. ``I turned the ball over way too much. I know I can do a better job of taking care of the rock. We’ve just got to keep the ball bouncing around.’’
The Magic led 79-67 some three minutes into the second half, but the flow of the game flipped around completely when Oklahoma City (34-19) ripped off the game’s next seven points and a 13-2 run. And when Schroder drilled a 3-pointer with 2:34 left in the third quarter, OKC had a 90-89 lead that it would not surrender the rest of the way.
Down 111-97 early in the fourth following another burst from Schroder, Orlando clawed back to within 113-108. However, its inability to get stops down the stretch ruined another rally.
Orlando shot a respectable 46.7 percent and sank 11 3-pointers, but it allowed OKC to connect on 50 percent of its shots. Also, the Magic committed 29 fouls and put the Thunder on the line for 37 free throws with 27 makes.
``The biggest thing, without watching the film, I think is the fouling,’’ Clifford fumed. ``We’re on the road and we scored 122 and that’s playing a really poor third quarter. We’re just not disciplined enough when guys are driving the ball. You can say whatever about this call or that call, but we’re fouling and we’re slapping down. You look at Paul George shooting 16 free throws and Westbrook shooting 10 and they’re going to score. Tonight, that was the biggest disappointment.’’
The Magic and Thunder were playing just a week after OKC won 126-117 in Orlando. In that game, the Magic also seemed poised to pull off a win after playing well for three quarters. Similarly, Schroder burned the Magic late by scoring 18 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter.
Orlando found out earlier in the day on Tuesday that rookie center Mo Bamba has a stress fracture in his left tibia – an injury that won’t require surgery because of the Magic’s immediate action in pulling the 7-footer from game action as soon as he reported pain on Saturday. Isaac, who was limited to just 27 games as a rookie because of a series of ankle injuries, said Bamba can use his time while out to better his strength and skills. Isaac added that the Magic medical staff allowing him to rehabilitate at his own pace was extremely helpful to his return.
``That’s what it was all about for me last season and I’m absolutely sure it’s going to be the same for Mo,’’ said Isaac, who played in his 40th consecutive game on Tuesday night. ``Him maybe being out maybe the rest of the season is going to give him a great opportunity to work on his body. Going into this summer, he can take this time now to focus on his body. So, I see it as Mo’s going to be just fine. He has a great organization and team behind him. We’re all thinking about him and looking forward to getting back to Orlando to see him.’’
Up seven at intermission following their best half of the season, the Magic pushed their advantage to 79-67 early in the third period. However, that burst seemed to irritate the Thunder who came alive with a 31-13 burst that put them ahead 98-92 by the start of the fourth. Schroder was once again an issue for the Magic, scoring nine third-quarter points to flip the game’s momentum around completely.
Orlando came out dialed in offensively and played one of its finest halves of the season in taking a 69-62 lead into intermission. The 69 points were a high for any half this season, topping the 68 scored in a first half in Minnesota on Jan. 4 and the 68 scored in the second half against the Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 17.
The Magic shot the ball extremely well – both on hard drives to the rim and from the perimeter – and carved up the Thunder to the tune of 57.8 percent from the floor. In addition to drilling seven 3-pointers, the Magic scored 26 points in the paint by relentlessly attacking the rim and running out for easy looks on the fastbreak.
Orlando had 15 assists on its 26 field goals in the first half. Gordon epitomized that mindset by not only scoring 15 first-half points, but also handing out a team-best six assists in the first 24 minutes.
Much like the Magic scoring 69 first-half points and surrendering 70 in the second half, Gordon set career highs in assists (10) and turnovers (eight) on this night. All their good was sabotaged by the bad on a night where more frustration came.
``Career highs in turnovers, too, right? That’s not going to get it done,’’ Gordon said. ``I really liked how we were playing (in the first half), but we’ve got to keep the ball moving. That’s the biggest thing for us all season.’’
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