Orlando Magic make progress in win over Miami Heat

The Orlando Magic played an ugly affair with the Miami Heat without their starters. But the good moments lasted longer and the team made progress.

Scott Skiles said he wanted to see more attention to detail defensively. He wanted to see the ball move. He wanted to see a consistent effort. More of the good moments than the bad.

In what was probably the first game all season that resembled a typical preseason game with general ugliness and poor shooting that marks early preseason games, the Magic started putting pieces together in a positive way. There were no extended stretches of defensive lapses and as the offense struggled to score, the Magic remained in control of the game.

Miami did not make the run to take control of the game — maybe because the team sat most of its veterans — and Orlando’s starters played comfortably throughout. Maybe too comfortably on offense. But for the first time the Magic can look at a relatively complete defensive performance (a few slip ups here and there and a 14-point fourth quarter lead the Magic’s bench players failed to keep being a big exception).

That is some measure of progress, right?

“It was OK,” coach Scott Skiles said. “We didn’t take a step back from the previous game, which would have been ahrd to do considering how we started that game. We had some good active hands and we’re definitely making a solid attempt to try to get it all down and try to learn it and be where we’re supposed to be. We’re just not quite there yet.”

The Magic withstood a late Heat rally that saw them force overtime. Nnanna Egwu forced overtime when he beat the Heat to the offensive glass and scored a put back after Jordan Sibert’s missed 3-pointer. In overtime,

drew a foul on a 3-pointer and sank all three free throws to give the Magic a six-point lead on their way to a 95-92 win over the Miami Heat at Amway Center on Tuesday.

Josh Richardson (MIA) — 18 pts.; Justise Winslow (MIA) — 12 pts., 10 rebs.
Shabazz Napier (ORL) — 15 pts.; Dewayne Dedmon (ORL) — 8 pts., 13 rebs.

The competition the Magic faced was not particularly strong — the Heat sat all their veteran players — but still the Magic seemed to manage the game, contest shots, get stops and, at least while the starters were in, win the game. The Magic led 62-56 after three quarters and played only Aaron Gordon as a potential starter in the fourth quarter. And this was Gordon’s first game back from injury.

Orlando’s offense was not fluid at all throughout the game. The Magic shot just 35.9 percent from the floor and the offensive spacing was not ideal. The team was not sharp in its execution.

Other things did go well though. Miami shot only 38.5 percent from the floor. Orlando challenged shots, forced turnovers (18 for 11 points) and got stops. The Magic dictated things defensively and looked as smooth for longer defensively as they have ever had.

A lot of players contributed to that.

Dewayne Dedmon came in and provided good energy off the bench with eight points and 13 rebounds, including five offensive rebounds. There were a few possessions where it was clear he wanted the ball more than anyone else. He also blocked three shots and changed a few more. Heat players were looking for him showing the effect his energy can have on the defensive end.

“That’s definitely how I see myself fitting into the team,” Dedmon said of his energy lift in the first quarter. “It’s my strategy and what I need to do for this team.

“I always play with energy. I just try to come in with energy and change the game.”

It was not just Dedmon though. Aaron Gordon’s return also provided a big boost for the Magic.

Gordon hounded Gerald Green when they were matched up (Green shot 4 of 14 for the game, although not all the credit can go to Gordon). He was clearly a better perimeter defender on the ball at least than any of the players he was going up against.

Offensively, Gordon was still rushing a few shots and getting his feet under him on his jumpers. In transition he was as strong and athletic as ever, completing a great play along the baseline where he leaped before reaching the paint and finished for a reverse layup.

It was a symbol he was back to those watching, even if just playing and getting through the game was all Gordon needed.

“It was kind of jitters,” Aaron Gordon said as Evan Fournier interjected that his baseline reverse layup was his “welcome back” moment. “It was basically once I came out of the game for the first time. You’re on the floor, you’re really amped up, you have a lot of jitters and you come out and you sit down and you’re like, ‘OK, I’m good.'”

The youthful exuberance did not go away. And that remains the thing Skiles guards against with his team.

One of the main highlights of the game came when Gordon stole a rebound above the free throw line and ignited a 3-on-1 fast break. He found Hezonja on the wing to push the ball up and Hezonja proceeded to bounce the ball high so Gordon could finish.

While the Magic seemed to be celebrating their play, Green and the Heat pushed the ball back down the floor and scored the two points back. These momentary lapses are what still concerns Skiles in the long run.

It happened again in the fourth quarter when the Magic took a 70-56 lead only to see the Heat get back into the game with a 14-2 run in the next five minutes or so. It was a game from there even though Skiles decided to pull all his rotation players at that point.

“It’s just something that is going well for us there,” Skiles said. “We were doing a lot of things and we just can’t relax. We have to keep going.”

That might be the Magic’s mantra for the rest of the preseason. Winning takes eternal attentiveness to succeed. It remains a lesson the team is learning as it manages expectations and learning to win.

Tuesday was an ugly game that told the team little about it with the players who were not on the court for the Heat. But it remained instructive of the progress the team has made and the buy-in that is coming and the work still left to do.

Next: Magic work to move practice production to games