The Orlando Magic were one play away from tipping the game to the win column. Kevin Durant made sure it was not as Oklahoma City Thunder won on his three.
The Orlando Magic have often lamented their inability to close. Time and again, they make mistakes — often, silly mistakes — that prevent them from winning games and from taking that next step forward.
Losing close games often does not come down to those obvious head-slapping moments. Losing close games often does not come down to the obvious play. It is the plays that add up and set up those moments.
With the Orlando Magic up by two points on the Oklahoma City Thunder, they had two opportunities to take a four-point lead. In both instances, Orlando was forced to take contested 18-foot jump shots with the shot clock winding down. A product of poor offensive execution and spacing and the desire to force the ball to Victor Oladipo.
Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant know how to finish. Even if Oklahoma City had missed nine of the past 10 shots and Orlando finally played physical defense to keep those two stars out of the paint. Those two know how to finish games, even against good defense.
Russell Westbrook tied the game, driving past Elfrid Payton on a pick and roll and past Nikola Vucevic — oddly engaged and perhaps held in place by Steven Adams — with 30 seconds left.
The Magic came down the other end of the floor and got Victor Oladipo, two points shy of tying his career high, isolated at the top of the key on Serge Ibaka. He got to the basket, shot the left-handed layup with the correct hand and had it blocked by Ibaka.
The Thunder opted not to call their timeout with time ticking away. Kevin Durant got up the floor in a hurry, did a quick dribble move to freeze Tobias Harris and hit a three over Harris’ outstretched hand for a 117-114 Thunder win at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City on Wednesday.
| Score | Off. Rtg. | eFG% | O.Reb.% | TO% | FTR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orlando | 114 | 117.2 | 54.7 | 27.9 | 9.3 | 12.6 |
| Oklahoma City | 117 | 119.4 | 52.2 | 41.3 | 13.3 | 26.9 |
Victor Oladipo (ORL) — 37 pts., 7 rebs.; Tobias Harris (ORL) — 15 pts.
Kevin Durant (OKC) — 37 pts.; Russell Westbrook (OKC) — 22 pts., 19 rebs., 14 assts.
The crushing defeat of a last-second shot always stings. Harris defended Durant well on the final shot so it is hard to find too much fault in that last play. Where the fault in this game comes is in the late-game execution and the defense throughout.
Orlando put up 114 points on Oklahoma City and did it with relative ease throughout the game. The team shot 49.5 percent and 10 for 23 from beyond the arc. Victor Oladipo was dealing it all night with an efficient 37 points on 13-for-19 shooting. Orlando dished out 25 assists on its 47 made field goals.
The Magic were moving the ball well throughout. Yet late in the game, things got tight. The Magic took a two-point lead on a Jason Smith corner 3-pointer, of all things, but that was masking an offense getting late into the shot clock and not getting much going to the basket while in the bonus or getting good shots.
The defense had finally locked down Westbrook and Durant for a brief moment with some incredible second efforts and deflections from Payton and Smith among others but the offense could not get that little bit it needed to get over the hump.
When Vucevic missed a jumper with the shot clock winding down and about 30 seconds to play, there had to be that sense the Magic could not hold Westbrook down much longer.
Westbrook had gone wild on the Magic all game long. He recorded a triple double by the middle of the third quarter and finished with 24 points, 19 rebounds and 14 assists. He was not missing shots — most were in the paint anyway — and wreaking havoc on a defense that offered little resistance.
His final two points were more emblematic of how he was playing most of the game. Just getting into the paint at will and either scoring or finding open shooters.
The Magic were able to slow him down through much of the fourth quarter as they kept pace and eventually took the lead by providing some resistance in the paint. Nikola Vucevic specifically started stepping up better in the paint and at least forcing Westbrook to change direction and shoot over someone. The defense behind him got better too.
That was the exception throughout the game though. Oklahoma City shot 47.3 percent and made 20 of 25 free throws, getting to the line a lot in the third quarter as Orlando succumbed to some frustration.
The Thunder very well could have run away with the game early with how they were able to create offense. Fortunately, Orlando forced 13 turnovers and Oklahoma City was generally sloppy throughout the game. The turnovers early especially helped the Magic settle down and they were able to get a good flow to their offense.
That flow meant the ball was moving quickly. Oladipo was getting into the lane and creating offense. Tobias Harris was cutting into gaps and receiving passes for baskets. Jason Smith was popping to the perimeter and hitting his jumpers to loosen the defense.
The Magic had a lot working on that end to keep pace with the Thunder all night.
Just not at the critical moment. Not with the clock ticking down. Not at the time when the best players find a way.
The Thunder made some incredible plays late to ice this one. They made a lot of plays late that teams just have to live with — a blocked shot on a layup when it looked like Oladipo had beaten Ibaka to the rim, a pull-up 3-pointer with the defender in his face — but they also made a few critical plays that were not executed well.
One basket would have turned the tide and the Magic did not have it.
Scott Skiles was asked if all these close games even in defeat could be a learning experience for the team. He said it can be, but at some point the team has to take that step forward.
Next: Time is not right to shop Nikola Vucevic
There were no boneheaded mistakes in this one. But it all counts the same in the end. The Magic did not have the one play to break it toward a win. The Thunder, with Westbrook and Durant, did.