Shorthanded Orlando Magic outlast Sacramento Kings
The Orlando Magic were without Elfrid Payton and Nikola Vucevic, but the Magic showed strong defensive resolve and toughness in its 107-100 victory over the Sacramento Kings.
100. 84. 107. 38. Final
The Orlando Magic were shorthanded without its starting point guard Elfrid Payton or starting center Nikola Vucevic. The Magic simply found ways to re-invent themselves while holding tough defensively against a Sacramento Kings team playing without DeMarcus Cousins.
Stepping up in place of Payton was C.J. Watson, while Dewayne Dedmon filled in for Nikola Vucevic in the middle. Both played solid games and helped the Magic claim a strong defensive effort that limited the Kings to a 39-percent night shooting the basketball. Jason Smith was also instrumental in filling the void at center.
The Orlando Magic were able to ride that strong play from players they needed to step up to a 107-100 win over the Sacramento Kings at Sleep Train Arena on Friday.
| Score | Off. Rtg. | eFG% | O.Reb.% | TO% | FTR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orlando | 107 | 106.0 | 54.4 | 32.4 | 18.8 | 43.4 |
| Sacramento | 100 | 96.2 | 44.3 | 23.5 | 16.3 | 28.0 |
Aaron Gordon (ORL) — 20 pts., 11 rebs.; Victor Oladipo (ORL) — 18 pts.
Kosta Koufos (SAC) — 19 pts.; Rajon Rondo (SAC) — 16 pts., 14 assts.
Dedmon and Smith combined for 25 points and 14 rebounds. That performance compensates fully for not having Vucevic available in this one.
The Magic were much tighter on defensive rotations, and the Kings were committing some careless turnovers. The combination of those things is what kept Orlando playing from ahead pretty much the whole way in this one.
The Magic came out and built a 14-point lead in the first quarter, but the Kings had erased that advantage by midway through the second quarter. Even so, Sacramento was never able to build on that momentum and the team never was able to build a lead of its own. For as much as the Magic may need Vucevic and Payton, it was clear the Kings were utterly lost without Cousins anchoring their offense.
Aaron Gordon led all Magic scorers with 20, connecting on 8 for 12 from the field. He used an array of dunks, short jumpers and moves around the basket and looked like Orlando’s best player in this one. Gordon did connect on just 4 of 10 from the free throw line, but Orlando’s entire contingent was weak there as the Magic shot just 21 of 34 from the stripe as a team.
Even having committed 19 turnovers, the Magic did enough small things right in this game to secure victory. The Magic held a +14 advantage on the glass and shot 51.9 percent from the field. The Magic also assisted on 22 of their 41 field goals in the game.
The offense was not always pretty, but Orlando was tenacious and the 12 offensive rebounds helped compensate for some of the miscues handling the ball.
The Magic found the ways to make the difference in this one and secure victory, but it is hard to read too much into defeating the Kings without Cousins. But every win for the Magic is as important as any other, regardless of who is playing for the other team.
The Magic must now try to build some momentum and make real strides toward closing the gap in the Eastern Conference standings. The Magic still sit 4.5 games behind No. 8 Detroit.
Next: How has the Ersan Ilyasova/Brandon Jennings trade affected the Orlando Magic?
They have one more game left on this road trip to even the record up on this jaunt out West before heading home.