The Orlando Magic were desperate
All 5 Magic starters score in double figures but defense still weak in win
Sunday, needing a win to remain in the playoff hunt. They got what they sought, taking a 130-116 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
For almost two months now, Orlando Magic players have said they need to regain their identity as a hard-nosed defensive team. They’re still searching. They beat the Philadelphia 76ers 130-116 on Sunday and kept their fading playoff hopes alive, but the victory also brought cause for concern. The Magic allowed the Sixers to make 53.2 percent of their shots, which is too high a percentage to surrender to a bottom-feeding team. If the Magic continue to struggle on that end of the floor, they’ll have no realistic hope of reaching the postseason.
“It’s just a matter of doing it,” forward Aaron Gordon said. “We have everything there that we need to [play good defense]. We have the tools. We have the principles. It’s about effort. That’s something that we need to bring to the game and we need to bring all game long.”
The Sixers entered Sunday shooting only 43.7 percent from the field, and yet they scored too many easy baskets against the Magic. Philadelphia’s shooting accuracy wasn’t just a product of Orlando taking a huge early lead, either. Philly made 55.0 percent of its first-quarter shots.
“Neither team seemed very interested on the defensive end, that was for sure,” Magic coach Scott Skiles said.
The Magic made 10 of their 16 shots from beyond the arc.
The game should have been a laugher.
Seven Magic players scored in double figures, led by Victor Oladipo and Nik Vucevic, who had 28 points apiece. Gordon added a career-high 22 points.
“We weren’t really good, obviously, defensively,” Vucevic said.
“I thought in the first half, we were able to turn them over a lot, so that was pretty good. They had a lot of turnovers, and we were able to convert on those. But midway through the third, we just relaxed too much. We let them get whatever they wanted. Offensively, we had a lot of bad plays and turnovers. We have to pick it up on the defensive end, especially now, when all the teams are really tied up trying to make a push for the playoffs. You can’t have games like that where we just don’t play good enough ‘D.’ ”
The Magic (26-32) can beat the Sixers (8-51) despite a poor defensive effort, but the Magic would encounter problems against better opponents.
Orlando stormed out to an 11-0 lead even though Evan Fournier, the team’s usual starting small forward, was a late scratch because he has a sore right wrist.
Rookie Mario Hezonja made his first regular-season start and made an immediate impact.
Vucevic tipped the game-opening jump ball forward, and Hezonja grabbed the basketball, drove toward the hoop and dunked.
Hezonja’s play set the tone for much of what followed.
The Magic scored the game’s first 11 points, including a 3-pointer by Hezonja from the top of the arc.
Playing against his former team, Vucevic scored his 28 points on 13-of-18 shooting. But he encountered a speed bump along the way.
With 8:55 to go in the third quarter, he absorbed an elbow to his jaw from Jerami Grant as Grant scored on a dunk. Vucevic was immediately taken out of the game, with Orlando ahead 86-62.
Philadelphia scored 36 points in the third quarter, and when Vucevic was subbed back in to start the fourth quarter, Orlando led only 102-87.
Vucevic gave the Magic a boost.
He scored six of the team’s first nine fourthquarter points to extend the lead to 111-92. A short while later, Brandon Jennings hit a 3-pointer from the left corner, putting the Magic up 114-92.
Philly cut its deficit to 123-115 with 1:47 to play, but Payton responded by making a layup.
After the game ended, Skiles was asked whether he can now tell his players that they won’t make the playoffs without playing better on defense.
“Yeah, but that’s been my message for two months,” Skiles said. “So I’m sure they’re sick of hearing it, but that is the message.”