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Orlando Magic find their heart, still fall short in Portland

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Jan 10, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo (5) loses his footing after being fouled by Portland Trail Blazers guard Wesley Matthews (2) at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 10, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo (5) loses his footing after being fouled by Portland Trail Blazers guard Wesley Matthews (2) at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Orlando Magic played like themselves (finally) for three quarters. Their most extended time in this losing streak. The Portland Trail Blazers still managed to secure the win.

The Orlando Magic looked hopeless and helpless following a first quarter to forget. It was a first quarter that seemed a continuation of the disappointing and frustrating effort from Friday night’s loss to the Lakers.

Portland had a 19-point lead at one point and it looked like Orlando would listlessly walk through another loss, frustrated at its inability to make shots or run a cogent offense.

The foot had to come down at some point though. Why not make it tonight?

And so Victor Oladipo, continuing to duck his head and bull his way to the rim recklessly at times, set the tone and tempo with his desire to get to the rim. The Magic got the ball inside to Nikola Vucevic and he established deep post position to score a career high in points. Elfrid Payton  and Devyn Marble stirred the pot defensively.

If the Magic play like this, good thing swill come. Good things did come.

The Magic took the lead in the third quarter on the back of that energy. They played tight with the Blazers throughout the fourth quarter. At the end of the day, they did not have the horses or the stamina to keep up. Portland remains a very good team and Orlando remains one searching for consistency and searching for its identity.

Wesley Matthews and Damian Lillard had big shots in their quivers and the Magic failed to answer in a 103-92 at Moda Center on Saturday. The fourth quarter continued to be a nightmare. But that seemed secondary compared to the other issues the Magic have had to deal with in the last few weeks.

ScoreOff. Rtg.eFG%O.Reb.%TO%FTR
Orlando9292.241.831.513.721.7
Portland103101.553.915.818.634.2

Nikola Vucevic (ORL) — 34 pts., 16 rebs.; Victor Oladipo (ORL) — 18 pts.
LaMarcus Aldridge (POR) — 25 pts.; Wesley Matthews (POR) — 18 pts., 8 rebs.

Orlando though found itself again. The team finally looked like the one that came back from the first West Coast trip, playing with energy, working the ball around together and being committed on defense.

This is how the Magic want to play.

In the second and third quarters, the Blazers shot just 46.2 percent from the floor as the Magic outscored the Blazers 57-46. Nikola Vucevic scored 23 points in that time frame. The Magic forced eight turnovers, getting out on the break for eight fastbreak points. The Magic outscored the Blazers 32-18 in the paint.

Here was a team that was more aggressive and more assertive. They were going to go out and take this game. Or, at least, they were not going to go out as embarrassingly as things were going.

The first quarter was abysmally bad with the Magic playing lackadaisical and unfocused. The Blazers led 26-13 as the Magic missed 17 of their 22 shots. They turned the ball over six times. The Blazers got easy baskets even as they missed other jumpers because of the Magic’s lazy defense.

Fans had every reason to be upset and frustrated as the team seemed headed toward the same pit and despair.

Seeing the fight return to this team was refreshing. For three quarters, the Magic were back to their energetic selves. They were pesky on defense and hounded the Blazers full court. The eventuality that they would lose in the fourth quarter seemed pretty irrelevant. The Magic were not even at the step to compete in a fourth quarter for the last few weeks without a frenzied rally.

Here they were in a back-and-forth game with a chance to steal one on the road.

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Blazers start, bench, cut: Shaedon Sharpe, Matisse Thybulle, Kris Murray
Blazers start, bench, cut: Shaedon Sharpe, Matisse Thybulle, Kris Murray /

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    • They finally got back there. The back-to-back caught up with them as Oladipo turned the ball over on several occasions down the stretch, leading to Blazers fast break opportunities and the breathing room they needed.

    Portland did play extremely lackadaisical too. They let off the gas pedal and the Magic took advantage. Took advantage much longer than they had at any time in the last few weeks.

    So the Magic found their formula again. They found their heart and they found success again. Well, a kind of success. They pulled themselves out of the depths of a bad performance and played well for 36 minutes.

    The game is still 48 minutes. And none of it matters if the Magic do not play this well again Monday night in Chicago. Momentum remains the next game’s pitcher.

    There appears to be hope again that the Magic are finding themselves again.

    Next: Maurice Harkless got back into the rotation, now he can answer the big questions