Fournier: Magic starters must be better
Slow starts in the first and third quarters are putting the Orlando Magic are in early holes they would prefer to not be in.
During Saturday’s 114-113 loss in San Antonio, it wasn’t necessarily the offense, though there was a 1-of-7 start from the field as Orlando posted 27 points.
The problem was the Spurs made seven 3-pointers and scored 38 points as they shot 65.2% from the field. The points, shooting percentage and 3-point percentage (63.6%) all were first-quarter season-highs by a
Magic opponent.
The Magic found themselves trailing by 16 at one point.
The Spurs opened the third quarter with an 11-4 run that put the Magic down 72-57 at the 8:12 mark. Orlando needed the rest of the quarter to claw its way back as it outscored San Antonio 24-13 to get within four.
For a team trying to maintain its position among the top eight teams (currently seventh) and reach the playoffs for the second straight year, it’s not a good way to play.
“The biggest part of this game was the beginning of the game,” Magic coach Steve Clifford said. “After the first quarter, we played well but it’s very hard to come back from a deficit like that.”
Shooting guard Evan Fournier said he and the other starters aren’t getting the job done. Through Saturday’s games, the Magic are tied for last in the NBA — with the Warriors — in first-quarter scoring average (25.5) and rank 27th in fourth-quarter scoring average (25.9).
While the Magic were above those marks on Saturday, getting 27 points in the first quarter and 32 in the fourth, it was the energy they had to expend as they were constantly erasing deficits for most of the game.
“The starters have to do a better job. The bench played great tonight,” Fournier said after the loss. “The start of the first quarter and the start of the third quarter were just awful. It’s hard to win when you play like that to start games, so the starters, we’ve got to do better.”
Despite stretches of porous defense, the Magic kept battling and led by four with
2:00 remaining. After the Spurs went up 114-113, the Magic had a chance to take the lead in the closing seconds but Fournier missed a layup with 2.2 seconds left.
No one was more disappointed, but Fournier said there was no excuse for the miss.
“I mean, you guys saw [it]. It’s a layup. There’s not much else to say. I missed it,” he said. “It’s a layup, man. It’s a damn layup. There’s no excuse.”
Still, the Magic maintained the seventh spot in the East and their half-game lead over the Brooklyn Nets, who lost 116-113 earlier on Saturday to the Miami Heat.
The loss to the Spurs assures the Magic cannot finish with a winning record against Western Conference opponents. Orlando currently is 8-16 against the West, and the best it can do is win six more games to go 14-16.
Orlando’s next chance to beat a team from the West arrives Monday when it hosts the struggling Portland Trail Blazers. The game tips off at 7 p.m. and will be
televised on Fox Sports Florida.
Much like the Magic (27-33), the Trail Blazers (26-35) have fought consistency issues this season. Portland, which has lost three straight and seven of its past 10, trails Memphis by 3.5 games for the eighth playoff spot in the West.
The Trail Blazers reached the conference finals last year and haven’t missed the playoffs since the 2012-13 season.
The Magic, however, won’t have to deal with all-star guard Damian Lillard, who remains out with a groin injury. He reportedly won’t even travel with the team to Orlando.
When the teams met Dec. 20 in Portland, the Magic had no answer for Lillard or fellow guard C.J. McCollum. The duo combined for 11 3-pointers and 67 points as the Trail Blazers rolled to a 118-103 victory.
That also was a game that featured a poor opening quarter for the Magic, who found themselves down 31-13 when it was over before outscoring Portland by three (90-87) the rest of the way.
The Magic would do well to avoid a repeat performance on Monday night.