The Orlando Magic have struggled to respond when teams make runs and when a response is needed. They put it together in a win Tuesday.
There are good responses and bad responses in the NBA.
The Orlando Magic had struggled throughout much of the team’s four-game West Coast road trip responding at all when teams made their pushes against them. The team was not able to stand up and make the stops.
Sometimes a team has enough of getting pushed around.
It was not the right situation but Evan Fournier turned and got in Nikola Jokic‘s face after an intentional foul in transition with the Magic clinging to a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter. Enough was seemingly enough, even if this was not the right moment to give away a point.
What was the right moment and right method then?
That would have been what happened after for the Magic. They got the stops they needed at key times, made their free throws and hit important shots. The Magic were able to rise to the moment and respond this time.
Even after losing an 18-point lead at home and struggling, all of a sudden, with turnovers and keeping up the ball movement that made the team so successful.
Orlando found a way and found a way rather solidly in a 116-110 victory over the Denver Nuggets at Amway Center on Tuesday. The Magic seemed to find the right player at the right moment and buckle down to get the stop or contest the shot and get this important win for the team and its confidence.
| Score | Off. Rtg. | eFG% | O.Reb.% | TO% | FTR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver | 110 | 110.5 | 55.6 | 19.4 | 16.1 | 30.0 |
| Orlando | 116 | 117.2 | 59.3 | 16.7 | 13.1 | 30.9 |
Gary Harris (DEN) — 18 pts.; D.J. Augustin (DEN) — 12 pts., 8 assts.
Evan Fournier (ORL) — 30 pts.; Jason Smith (ORL) — 25 pts., 13 rebs.
“We want to have those good starts, but we want to remain consistent,” Jason Smith said. “We don’t want to have a good start and have them get back into the game. We know the game is all about runs here and there. We want to try to remain consistent in getting a lead, keeping a lead and increasing a lead. We don’t ever want to give that lead up.”
The Magic built an 18-point lead through the first half and third quarter with crisp ball movement and finding the right guy at all moments. Players were cutting well and sharing the ball.
Aaron Gordon hit his first six shots and scored 12 of his 16 points in the first quarter. When the Nuggets locked him down, someone else took his place. It was Jason Smith — a season-high 25 points and 13 rebounds — at various times. Or it was Victor Oladipo — 23 points on 9-for-16 shooting — or it was Evan Fournier tying his career high with 30 points on 5-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc.
Orlando always seemed to find exactly who needed the ball. The Magic were able to slow down the Nuggets’ fast break and buckle down on defense.
“We were able to get stops when we needed to,” said Brandon Jennings, who had 11 assists starting in Elfrid Payton‘s place and for an ill C.J. Watson (Watson still played off the bench. “We were able to execute and do what we have to do.
“We were able to make shots early so they wouldn’t be able to have a lot of fast break points. I think me and C.J. did a good job pressuring the point guards to make it difficult on them.”
The energy was there from the very beginning of the game. And that was important.
The Magic built up their 18-point lead in the third quarter and seemed set to coast. They still had to kill the game though and that is something the team is continuing to learn how to do.
In the third quarter, the Magic turned the ball over seven times for 12 points. That included a few lazy turnovers as Denver increased its defensive intensity and Orlando tried to force offense to get back into that flow.
The Nuggets went on a 16-4 run to cut the Magic’s 18-point lead with four minutes left in the third quarter down to six to end the third quarter. This would be the point the Magic have folded in the past and struggled to get themselves back up.
Orlando though extended back into double digits. The team got some key stops and even with some misses off good looks mixed in, Orlando slowly pushed the lead back out. Enough to keep Denver at bay.
“Just keep playing, keep being aggressive, getting to our spots and shooting the ball with confidence,” Oladipo said of what the team did to avoid the panic from recent games. “That’s what we did. Credit us for growing, learning and continuing to get better.”
The Magic had the energy and confidence throughout the game that was often missing in those difficult moments. There were certainly moments where the team struggled to move the ball or settled for shots or turned it over, but the team never seemed to lose control.
They took the punch and kept going with it. They kept attacking and then finished the fight with some necessary plays.
That is a bit of growth. They certainly picked up the result they wanted in the end.
Of course, the trick is carrying the game over into the next one. That is where the Magic have struggled for some time now. They have not been able to match good efforts — and wins — with a second good effort and win. Orlando has not won consecutive games since the back-to-back wins over the Atlanta Hawks in early February.
As encouraging as the game might have been following the disappointing end to the road trip, this win means little without something to match it.
Next: Orlando Magic struggling to match big runs
In any case, when those moments to respond came. The Magic did so. And in the right way.