Magic close out seeding play with a victory over Pelicans
The Orlando Magic closed out the most challenging regular season in NBA history with a victory.
Nikola Vucevic scored 23 points and D.J. Augustin finished with 22 points —15 in the second quarter — to help lead the Magic to a 133-127 win over the New Orleans Pelicans as they finished off seeding play Thursday night in the NBA restart.
The Magic had sewn up the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs on Sunday, meaning their final two games had no impact on the standings.
Orlando was lethargic in a 12-point loss to Brooklyn on Tuesday but responded with a more energetic effort against New Orleans.
The result was some muchneeded momentum as the team heads into the postseason. The Magic will now have four days off before facing the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. Game 1 is set for Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.
“It’s always better to win. Obviously, it’s why you play. It’s why you compete,” Magic coach Steve Clifford said. “Except for the other day against Brooklyn, we’ve played hard here. Our guys have hung in there and I feel like we’re in a good place right now. So we have four days to get ready for Game 1 and I think our guys will be ready.”
James Ennis added 16 points, while Wes Iwundu finished with 15 points, Markelle Fultz had 11 points and Vic Law and Melvin Frazier Jr. each had 10 for the Magic (33-40) at ESPN Wide World of Sports’ Visa Athletic Center.
Frank Jackson scored a season high 31 points and Nickeil Al
exander-Walker scored 29 to lead the Pelicans, who played without Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Jrue Holiday, JJ Redick and Lonzo Ball.
Josh Hart added 23 points for New Orleans (30-42).
Vucevic made his first seven shots and finished 10 of 11 from the floor, including 3 of 4 from the 3-point line. Orlando was 48 of 84 overall (57.1%) as its offense carried it for most of the game.
Vucevic, the team’s longest-tenured player, said the Magic will take away several positives from the victory.
“It always feels good to win, whether the game has any meaning or not really in the standings,” Vucevic said. “For us, it was more to work on our execution defensively, offensively make sure you stay in a rhythm. You don’t want to go too long without a game.
“I thought that everybody that had a chance to play tonight played well, executed our game plan and it was good to finish off on a positive note and now we can focus, obviously, on Milwaukee.”
The Magic knocked down 15 3-pointers as they outscored the Pelicans 45-30 from behind the arc and needed every one of those points to hold off a pesky New Orleans team missing its top players.
Orlando snapped a fivegame losing streak and finished 3-5 in the seedingplay format that made up the NBA’s return from a nearly five month hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But the Magic wrapped up seeding play with more than a victory. They were able to give their core players significant minutes, which was important in continuing to build rhythm, and avoid any further injuries.