The Orlando Magic
need to sign Serge Ibaka to a long-term deal, writes Brian Schmitz.
Ore. — With the score tied 90-90 with 8:06 to go in Friday night’s fourth quarter, Orlando Magic coach Frank Vogel decided to sub his starting frontcourt of Aaron Gordon, Serge Ibaka and Nikola Vucevic back into his team’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers.
It was a bit early to make that move. But it worked. The Magic played from that point onward and beat the Blazers 115-109 at the Moda Center.
Vucevic sank a 17-foot jumper to put Orlando ahead 105-101.
After Portland’s Damian Lillard made a pair of free throws, Elfrid Payton made a wide-open 3-pointer from the left court with 1:17 to go to give Orlando a 108-103 lead.
Following a Portland miss, Vucevic struck again, swishing a 19-foot jumper.
Vucevic finished with a sea
son-high 30 points and also collected 10 rebounds.
Payton scored nine of his 19 points in the fourth quarter before he fouled out.
With the victory, Orlando (17-24) snapped its four-game losing streak.
Lillard scored a gamehigh 34 points for Portland (18-24).
The Magic jumped out to a 20-3 lead as they made their first nine shots and the Blazers missed their first nine shots.
But the Blazers closed the gap.
With Lillard and Evan Turner leading the way, they cut the Magic’s lead to 50-47 with 4:13 to go in the second quarter.
Vogel made good on his pledge to employ smallball lineups more often.
Although Vogel started bigs Vucevic and Ibaka alongside each other, Vogel deviated from his normal substitution pattern.
He brought in Jeff Green off the bench to spell Ibaka at power forward and later subbed Bismack Biyombo in for Vucevic.
The new pattern left only one Magic big man on the floor for about 14 minutes of the first half.
In the first half, Vogel also made Mario Hezonja the primary substitute for Gordon at small forward.
Turner attacked Hezonja often, and Turner’s success helped the Blazers stage their firsthalf comeback.
Hezonja did not play in the second half.
In the fourth quarter, Vogel subbed in his starting frontcourt with the score knotted at 90-90, pairing Gordon, Ibaka and Vucevic back into the game as he left Payton and Jodie Meeks in at the guard spots.
Over the next 2 minutes, 33 seconds, the Magic outscored the Blazers 9-3.
Meeks started the run with a 3-pointer off a pindown.
Meeks followed with a reverse layup, and Vucevic drained a jumper.
Vogel put Evan Fournier in for Meeks with 6:07 to go, and Payton then intercepted a pass by C.J. McCollum and went coast-tocoast for a layup.
His score extended Orlando’s lead to 99-93 with 5:33 left. The Magic held on. Vogel’s early frontcourt substitutions paid dividends.
The result offers encouragement as the Magic head into the second half of the season. The team had hoped, and perhaps even expected, the second quarter of their season to be a positive turning point, a period in which they solidified themselves as legitimate contenders for a playoff spot.
Everything started well. They won road games over the Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards, a pair of teams that have befuddled them in recent years.
But the Magic had lost momentum lately.
The second quarter of their season, a period that stretched from Dec. 4 through Jan. 11, disappointed everyone. The Magic posted an 8-12 record, including losses in six of their final seven games before Friday, to severely jeopardize their postseason hopes.
Here’s a look at some of the positives and the negatives from Game 21 through Game 40.
Best team performance
On Dec. 26, the Magic defeated the well-rested, healthy Memphis Grizzlies 112-102 at Amway Center and avenged a heartbreaking loss earlier in the season to the Grizzlies. Gordon scored 30 points, and Orlando led by as many as 29 points. Road wins over the Pistons and New York Knicks received consideration here, but this victory stands out because of the quality of the opponent.
Worst team performance
There are many contenders for this category, including blowout losses to the Boston Celtics, Charlotte Hornets (twice), To- ronto Raptors and Los Angeles Lakers. The vote goes to the Magic’s New Year’s Day 117-104 road loss to the Indiana Pacers. The Magic showed too little energy as the Pacers made half of their shot attempts.
Best individual performance
On Dec. 13, Payton led the Magic to a 131-120 road win over the Atlanta Hawks. Payton scored a career-high 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting. He also added a career-high 14 assists as he turned the ball over only twice.
Worst individual performance
Ibaka had a subpar game in the Magic’s Dec. 14 home loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. Ibaka struggled defending Blake Griffin, and Ibaka went 3 of 10 from the field.