Orlando Magic Grades: Orlando Magic 118, Brooklyn Nets 111
The Orlando Magic went neck-and-neck against the Brooklyn Nets as their offense clicked in the fourth quarter, earning them the win on Friday night at home.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
| Nets | 28 | 24 | 30 | 29 | 111 |
| Magic | 25 | 28 | 30 | 35 | 118 |
The Orlando Magic have had a strange occurrence of games lately. They are struggling defensively, but their offense is clicking after they scored at least 100 points for the fourth straight game in a row.
The Magic and the Brooklyn Nets stayed close the whole night. No team got a double-digit lead at any point during the game.
The Magic and Nets went back at each other, exchanging buckets. Not only exchanging buckets, but exchanging words as well, which resulted in five technical fouls between the two teams in the third quarter.
The Magic clung to a one-point lead at the end of the second and third quarter. It was the fourth quarter in which the Magic were able to pull away as they outscored the Nets by six in a 118-111 win at the Amway Center on Friday.
D.J. Augustin was a big part of the Magic victory tonight as he and Evan Fournier came alive in the fourth quarter to lead the way.
“We played good defense,” D.J. Augustin said. “We stayed with it. They made tough shots. That is a high-scoring team. But we played together as a team tonight on defense and it paid off.”
The Magic entered the game 4-9 at home, something they were not proud of and something they were hoping to correct.
Nikola Vucevic’s return was a big positive for the Magic heading into the contest. Having instant offense off the bench is a huge luxury the Magic have when he is healthy and available to play.
“We need Vooch to be aggressive like that every night” praised Evan Fournier when asked by Dante Marchitelli about Vucevic’s 21 point night.
The Magic entered the game 25th in the league in free throw attempts per game with 21. On Friday night, the Magic shot a season-high 42 free throw attempts which was a big reason in the whopping 118 points they totaled for the night.
The Magic may have excelled at getting to the line but they struggled making shots. The Magic shot 40.2 percent from the field and an abysmal 24.1 percent from the 3-point line.
But the mindset of being in attack mode accelerated the Magic to a win on Friday night.
The defense is still not a number Frank Vogel would be satisfied with, as the Magic clearly need to improve on that end. They still need to work to return to what they played a couple weeks ago.
Orlando Magic. SERGE IBAKA. A-. The Magic’s key offensive players struggled at the start of the game. D.J. Augustin and Evan Fournier were unable to get off to a hot start. But Serge Ibaka was one of the Magic players who gave the starting lineup a boost. <p>He had a double-double on the night with 18 points and 10 rebounds, his first double-double this season. The key stat that propelled the Magic to a win was the five blocks he had tonight. </p><p>Ibaka made sure that no easy buckets were given in the paint. At one point, he stepped up near the free throw line and blocked Isaiah Whitehead’s jumper in the first quarter. Ibaka was contesting shots, even after he was called for fouls, in which at some occasions, the referee’s called seemed questionable.</p>. PF
B. Evan Fournier had a game that he would largely like to forget, as he struggled shooting the ball throughout the night. He was struggling on offense as he was not able to break down the defense early on in the game and drive to the paint which often results in the opponent’s defense collapsing resulting easy shots for other Magic players. <p>Fournier stayed with his style of play and kept on attacking the paint. He shot a cold 5 for 15 from the field but he got nine shots from the free throw line, a team high for tonight. This slowed down the game, which often resulted in Brooklyn’s defense looking stagnant. Fournier scored 13 points in the fourth quarter which gave the Magic just enough to get past the Nets.</p><p>Fournier struggled to keep up on defense, a lot of the times, Sean Kilpatrick drove past Fournier and dished it off to the All-Star big man, Brook Lopez for the easy layup.</p>. SG. Orlando Magic. EVAN FOURNIER
Nikola Vucevic came back from the lower back injury in convincing fashion. He scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, as he did exactly what he was asked to do, provide instant offense off the bench. He made a couple jumpers in the first half as well as a few post jump hooks. <p>He also had three blocks, which is rare for Vucevic, as he is not known for the shot-blocking ability. He had great positioning and made sure he set his feet and ensured to go straight up, avoiding foul calls. </p><p>Vucevic added four assists too, he is one of the better big men in the league that can make plays for others, as he once again proved on Friday night.</p><p>Vucevic struggled defending Brook Lopez, he was often out of position, which resulted in Lopez scoring easily on the low post. Lopez ended up with 22 points, as he was scoring all over the place tonight, and 10 of the 22 came with Vucevic guarding him.</p>. C. Orlando Magic. NIKOLA VUCEVIC. B+
The Brooklyn Nets have had a rocky season, to say the least, they have struggled defensively the whole year. The Nets entered tonight’s matchup against Magic as the worst team in the league in defensive rating. The Nets also are the worst in the league in limiting opponents points per game. <p>Against a 27th-ranked offensive team, the Orlando Magic, the Nets gave up 118 points, which will not get them wins if they cannot defend well on a nightly basis. </p><p>But the Nets had a great offensive outing once again. They also had six blocks on the night, a category they lack in. Brook Lopez had five of those blocks, as he, along with Jeremy Lin, were two of the bright spots for the Nets. The Nets have a chance to redeem themselves on Sunday, as they face the last-place Philadelphia 76ers.</p>. 7-18. 14th East. BROOKLYN NETS. C+
Orlando Magic Daily editor Philip Rossman-Reich contributed to this report.