The Magic get
Center scores 12 of his game-high 34 in 4th to propel Magic
a big game from Nikola Vucevic and show some grit down the stretch in a 105-100 win over the Knicks.
NEW YORK — Three-point shots swishing through the net, windmill dunks and no-look passes put a team onto highlight reels.
But the Orlando Magic need more than skill and flash to reach the playoffs.
The Magic must embody energy, grit and unselfishness to become more than the sum of their unimpressive individual parts.
On Sunday afternoon, toughness and a healthy dose of Nikola Vucevic propelled the Magic to a 105-100 win over the undermanned New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Jonathon Simmons, Marreese Speights and Vucevic gave the Magic the momentum they so desperately needed in the fourth quarter. Simmons scored on an emphatic putback dunk, Speights took a charge and Vucevic scored 12 of his gamehigh 34 points to help their team eke out the victory.
“A lot of guys made a lot of winning plays,” coach Frank Vogel said. “So it’s a good team win.”
It started with Simmons, probably the grittiest player on the Magic roster. As the Knicks threatened to seize control early in the fourth quarter, Speights launched a 3-pointer from the right wing that clanged off the rim. Simmons sprinted along the baseline toward the rim, elevated and scored on a right-handed putback dunk to extend Orlando’s lead to 82-78 and, perhaps, steady his teammates’ nerves.
But the Knicks pressured the Magic again as the Magic clung to an 82-81 lead. New York’s Kyle O’Quinn corralled an offensive rebound — the kind of play that can swing the momentum of the game. Seconds later, Michael Beasley drove toward the hoop, but Speights confronted him outside the restricted area, drew contact and took a charge as the ball went through the hoop. Speights’ play prompted the entire Magic bench — including assistant coaches Chad Forcier, Corliss Williamson and Jay Hernandez — to stand and applaud.
“Those are energy plays: dunks and offensive charges,” Simmons said. “Everybody, all 12 or 15 guys, have to feel the same energy and be on one accord.”
With the score tied 85-85, Vucevic took control.
He scored on a driving floater in the lane. Following a miss by Beasley, Aaron Gordon passed up a 3-pointer and passed to Vucevic, who drove down the center of the lane and scored on a right-handed dunk. Beasley fouled Vucevic on the play, and Vucevic sank the free throw to extend the lead to 90-85 with 5:19 remaining.
“We needed to close the game,” Vucevic said. “So I wanted to keep my aggressiveness and carry my team until the end.”
A short while later, Vucevic drained a 3-pointer from the top of the arc, putting Orlando ahead 93-85.
“That’s what we’ve got to do,” Speights said. “When a guy’s hot, we’ve got to keep working through him, and he’s going to find a way to score or make the right pass.”
The Magic (10-14) should have beaten the Knicks (11-11) because the Knicks were missing their two leading scorers on Sunday.
Big man Kristaps Porzingis sat out because of a sprained right ankle and an illness. Swingman Tim Hardaway Jr. didn’t play because of a left leg injury. Porzingis and Hardaway combine to average 43.6 points per game, which accounted for 41.7 percent of the Knicks’ average point total entering the day.
The Magic struggled from 3-point range, making just six of their 28 attempts from deep. So they had to grind out the win with hustle plays like Simmons’ putback dunk and Speights taking a charge.
Even Vucevic, whose defense is often maligned by fans, made a key play at the rim late. Nursing five fouls with Orlando ahead 97-91, Vucevic challenged Lance Thomas as Thomas drove to the hoop and put up a shot. Vucevic jumped straight up, with his hands raised, and the collision forced Thomas to miss the shot.
The Magic need that kind of physicality more often.
“It was a big play for us,” Vogel said.
On Sunday, in a game the Magic needed to win, Vogel’s players provided just enough energy, grit and unselfishness.
“It wasn’t perfect,” Vucevic said. “But we got it done.”