DALLAS – The last time the Orlando Magic left Dallas with a victory Dwight Howard was in the middle of the best individual season of his career, Jameer Nelson was the team’s starting point guard and Hedo Turkoglu had just recently returned to the Magic following a blockbuster trade.
That season, the Mavs ultimately won the NBA championship, defeating the Miami Heat in six games in the Finals. On that Jan. 8, 2011 night, though, Howard posted 23 points and 12 rebounds and Turkoglu dished out 17 assists to lead Orlando to the win.
The American Airlines Center, where Orlando has now lost eight straight games including Wednesday’s heartbreaking 107-106 defeat, has obviously not been kind to the Magic in recent years. For a while on Wednesday, it appeared their luck inside this building was going to change, as the Magic led for most of the first three quarters.
Quiet in the first half, Luka Doncic erupted for 21 of his 27 points after halftime. The Mavs went on a 26-8 run to close out the third quarter, taking a seven-point lead into the final frame.
Although the Magic rallied, reclaiming the lead around the four-minute mark, and despite coming up with several superb defensive plays, they couldn’t convert enough offensively down the stretch.
Aaron Gordon was called for two consecutive offensive fouls, the last one causing him to foul out, in the final minute and Nikola Vucevic missed what would have been a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer. Seth Curry, normally an excellent free throw shooter, missed both of his foul shots with seven seconds left that kept the door open for the Magic to win it in the final seconds.
“It looked great. It was on target. Just came up short,” Vucevic, who flirted with a triple-double with 19 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, said about the final shot. “Dwight Powell did a good job coming back and contesting it a little bit. It was a good look. It was unfortunate that I missed it. It was a good battle.”
Once again, Jonathan Isaac, an early-season candidate for the Defensive Player of the Year Award, was phenomenal on defense, particularly against his counterpart, Kristaps Porzingis. Isaac, whose stat line of 13 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, six blocks and four steals speaks volumes about the type of night he had, was a big reason why the 7-foot-3 Latvian shot 4-of-14 from the field and 1-of-5 from 3-point range.
The Magic’s 22-year-old became the third player in the NBA since 1983-84 to record at least 13 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, six blocked shots and four steals in a single game. The others were Houston Rockets legends Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson.
“I just tried to stick to the gameplan,” Isaac said about his approach guarding Porzingis. “Coaches put together a great scouting report. I just tried to follow it. I just played aggressive.”
Although they struggled from beyond the arc once again, going 6-of-24, the Magic did a lot of damage in the paint where they scored 60 points. Their defense was, overall, very good as well, holding the Mavs to 42.9 percent shooting. Orlando did allow Dallas to come down with a few critical offensive rebounds late, including one by Dorian Finney-Smith that led to a pair of game-tying free throws by Powell right after the Magic had recaptured the lead with a little over four minutes remaining.
Gordon, who got off to a hot start and finished with 23 points, was the second Orlando player to foul out after Evan Fournier was disqualified earlier in the fourth after picking up his sixth foul.
Six players for the Magic, who were without Terrence Ross (knee) and Mo Bamba (rest), scored in double figures. D.J. Augustin and Michael Carter-Williams each had 13 points, while Markelle Fultz, who had a big steal right before Gordon’s last foul, chipped in with 11.