Nikola Vucevic’s game-winner gives Orlando Magic some redemption

Nikola Vucevic was on track to be the goat after several key mistakes toward the end of the game. Then his game-winner saved it all for the Orlando Magic.

The script played out exactly as it had countless times before.

The Orlando Magic raced out to a lead and seemed ready to turn the corner and climb out of this dastardly losing stretch. The team finally looked like itself.

Then they lost the lead, ceasing the defensive progress and sharp play that built the lead in the first place. In moments all that goodwill dissipated. And silly mistakes began to take in.

It did not matter at a certain point. The bottom line came into focus. The Magic were tied with 2.2 seconds left needing to inbound the ball and get a shot.

Nikola Vucevic did that, receiving the pass, turning over Al Horford and making his second buzzer beater of the year for a 96-94 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday.

Jeff Teague (ATL) — 24 pts.; Paul Millsap (ATL) — 14 pts., 9 rebs.
Nikola Vucevic (ORL) — 22 pts.; Elfrid Payton (ORL) — 12 pts., 12 assts.

“It feels great,” Vucevic said. “We’ve had a lot of losses and some really tough ones. Again today we had a good lead and we played well and they came back. We were able to get stops at the end. I was really happy to make that shot because I had a few plays before that where I made a couple mistakes and I wasn’t happy about those and I wanted to make up for it.”

The win certainly provides some temporary relief. Having lost 15 of 17 games entering Sunday’s contest has certainly put the team on a low. Even though the Magic built a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter, things quickly began to fell apart with a 9-2 run that made it a game the rest of the way.

The focus of many of the problems seemed specifically on Nikola Vucevic too.

Vucevic threw a pass out of bounds that enabled the Hawks to get the possession to tie the game at 94 with 1:02 left. The Magic had lost their 14-point lead. On the next possession as the Magic tried to inbound the ball, he committed an offensive foul on a moving screen.

The Hawks, with the chance to take the lead got a runner from Paul Millsap that hit off the rim and headed toward Vucevic again. Only Al Horford beat him to the rebound and reset for a final shot.

Jeff Teague would miss the step-back jumper over Vucevic and Paul Millsap would miss a short tip in before Evan Fournier could grab it.

The Magic had been saved, it would seem.

And then it would not as Elfrid Payton struggled to inbound the ball, calling a timeout before the five-second violation could get called.

That would have been growth and redemption enough after a mistake a few weeks ago in Memphis in that exact situation with a timeout to burn. So too what would be what came next.

Scott Skiles designed the second play to go to Nikola Vucevic. Al Horford may have pushed him off his spot and made things more difficult, but Vucevic still turned and fired over him, falling into the Magic bench.

The shot, like it had against the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this year, went in and teammates mobbed him.

Vucevic made up for those errors, pushing them aside and helping the Magic scratch out an ugly victory — but, hey, they all count the same, right?

“Just look up to the next play,” Vucevic said. “Just make up for it, that’s all you can do. I can’t pout about it or think about it too much. I just have to focus on the next play and make up for those. I think I did with that shot, but for the next game I have to make sure I don’t have those moments.”

For the first time in a while, the Magic were certainly beginning to play with that mentality and put the pieces together in a way they have not for a while. They had nearly complete control of the game throughout thanks to a connected and energetic defensive effort.

Atlanta shot just 38.5 percent for the game and committed 16 turnovers for 16 Orlando points. The Hawks made just 14 of 41 shots in the paint. The Magic challenged shots and closed out well for the most part, giving the Hawks little chance to cut into the deficit until the fourth quarter.

The Magic were active on the weak side and rotating to cover for each other and challenge shots and penetration. Orlando recorded 10 blocks with Aaron Gordon blocking four to lead Orlando.

This was how the Magic always wanted to play defense through the first three quarters — when the Hawks had just a 76.4 offensive rating through three quarters.

“I thought our overall defensive activity took a pretty significant uptick today, which is good,” coach Scott Skiles said. “That’s what you need. When you have a breakdown, someone has to cover for you. That’s what we’ve struggled to do is covering for each other, so those blocks were big.”

That defense led to better offensive flow and helped the Magic get out in transition for 14 fast-break points. It was a bit of a slog for Orlando to get offense but the team had enough to take control.

It was still not quite enough. There were still those moments of uncertainty and the lead quickly dissipated in the fourth quarter. The Magic turned it over and could not find the shots they were getting so easily throughout the game before.

Orlando had six turnovers for 10 Atlanta points in the fourth quarter. The struggles early on led to break downs defensively as Atlanta took advantage to make 6 of 10 3-pointers.

The Magic made shots at a decent clip — 10 for 16 in the quarter — but did not have a field goal in the final 3:41 before Vucevic’s shot. Player were willing to get shots and the team had some good ones, but turnovers cost the team precious possessions.

Without stops, the Magic were at the Hawks’ whims it seemed, giving up 176.2 points per 100 possessions in the final quarter.

“That’s what we talked about all season long,” Fournier said. “When we play defense, we’re usually in a good position to win the game. Once again, that’s true. We’ve got to start playing defense.”

Defense has always been the key for this team and for three quarters at least the Magic were digging down in a concerted and focused effort to do it.

Never mind the late-game struggles at the end. The Magic found a way to push through those.

Elfrid Payton was confident knocking down shots in several big moments and get himself back on track with 12 points and a season-high 12 assists, his jumper late gave the Magic some more cushion and his pass to a cutting Victor Oladipo for the Magic’s final field goal before the game winner through the defense was placed perfectly and on a string.

He was playing with confidence as was Evan Fournier, inserted into the starting lineup for an injured Tobias Harris.

“Just trying to remember the mistakes that we made in the past and try not to make those again,” Payton said. “We did a good job of that today.

“It’s a good lift, but I always have confidence in myself. If I continue to work, it’s going to pay off.”

The work finally seemed to get some reward and pay off. It does not mean the Magic are out of the woods. Another game with Atlanta awaits tomorrow night.

It was a step in the right direction. A positive feeling to build off of. And a lesson while winning that needs to be continued to learn.

Next: Orlando Magic have been struggling to start games

Like Vucevic, the Magic have to continue to push on.