The Magic take
a 115-99 win over the Pelicans.
NEW ORLEANS — Marreese Speights never expected to play Monday night. If Frank Vogel drew up a depth chart, Speights would rank fourth at power forward behind Aaron Gordon, Jonathan Isaac and Mario Hezonja and third at center behind Nikola Vucevic and Bismack Biyombo.
But on Monday morning, fresh off a painful loss in Charlotte the night before, Vogel had an epiphany. Because of the size of the New Orleans Pelicans’ frontcourt and Speights’ experience facing the Pelicans in the Western Conference, Vogel thought the Magic might benefit if Speights came in off the bench.
Vogel never told Speights about his hunch. Vogel didn’t need to. Now in his 10th NBA season, Speights knows exactly who he is: a role player who brings instant offense off the bench, often at a moment’s notice.
“Whenever I get in,” Speights
said, “I’m already loaded. I’m ready. That comes from just being mentally prepared, mentally in the game, locked into the game when I’m on the sideline.”
He saved the Magic. On a night Anthony Davis scored almost at will and DeMarcus Cousins threatened to register a triple-double, Speights rained 3-pointer after 3-pointer on the Pelicans and led the Magic to a 115-99 victory at the Smoothie King Center.
Speights scored 15 of his 18 points in the game’s final 13 minutes.
“When he checks in, he’s hot,” Vogel said. “That’s a heck of a luxury.”
More like a necessity on Monday.
Referees whistled Gordon for his fourth foul with 4:05 to go in the third quarter, and Isaac picked up his fourth personal with 1:08 left in the period.
Vogel subbed Speights into the game, and Speights responded immediately. He drained a high-arcing 3 from 28 feet just before the end of the quarter that inched the Magic ahead 87-83.
That was just the beginning. Speights went 4 of 6 from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter.
With 7:16 to play, he received a pass from Shelvin Mack and drained a 3 from the right corner, just in front of the Pelicans’ bench. When the ball swished in, putting the Magic ahead 106-89, Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry called a timeout. Speights ran toward the Magic bench, smiling. Evan Fournier catapulted off his seat on the bench, leaped into the air and chestbumped Speights to celebrate.
“Mo is incredible,” Fournier said after the game. “Being able to just sit on the bench for multiple games and just have an impact like this in five minutes? It’s remarkable.”
With the victory, the Magic improved to 5-2, their best start since the 2011-12 season.
To get that win, they had to overcome Davis, who scored a game-high 39 points for the Pelicans, and Cousins, who seemed on course for a triple-double.
After Orlando allowed 64 points in the first half, it limited New Orleans to 35 second-half points.
At halftime, Vogel and his assistant coaches challenged their players to compete with more heart on defense, and the players delivered.
Cousins scored only two points in the second half.
“We kind of wore ’em out with our defensive pressure,” said swingman Jonathon Simmons. “We just picked up the pressure. We started to touch ’em a little bit. They don’t really like physicality like that.”
Simmons, Fournier and Nikola Vucevic finished with 20 points apiece.
The Magic knew this road trip to Charlotte, New Orleans and Memphis would offer some clues about their makeup.
On Sunday night, they fell to the Hornets 120-113 as Kemba Walker scored 34 points.
On Monday, on the second evening of a back-toback, the Magic opened the fourth quarter on a 7-1 run. Simmons scored on a driving layup. Soon, Speights drilled a 3 from the top of the arc over Cousins. On the Pelicans’ next trip, Isaac blocked a shot by E’Twaun Moore.
Simmons scooped up the loose ball and scored on a layup as he was fouled by Jameer Nelson. The andone extended Orlando’s lead to 95-84 with 10:21 to play.
After a New Orleans miss, Speights made another trey. Orlando led 98-84.
He was only starting to impact the game.