Magic Halt Skid, Defeat Suns 93-90

In desperate need of a win the Orlando Magic were able to hang onto their lead late as they defeated the Phoenix Suns on the road 93-90. The Magic looked like they had this game in the bag thanks to a huge boost off the bench from Elfrid Payton who lead the team in +/- with +10 however, the difference in level of coaching almost allowed the Suns to pull off a huge comeback.

To begin the game the Magic orchestrated their best first half in nearly two weeks behind solid ball movement and fantastic defensive effort all around. In the past two weeks the Magic have stood still as Victor Oladipo called everybody off to run pick and roll with Nikola Vucevic but that wasn’t the case tonight. The Magic got back to their side to side ball movement and it appeared to energize everybody defensively as the Magic held Phoenix below 40% shooting from the field in the first half.

The third quarter picked up where the second left off and Orlando extended their lead to 15 early on. The Suns fought back early on in the quarter but thanks to Elfrid Payton the Magic were able to keep the Suns at a distance. The fourth quarter is where everything changed, Jacque Vaughn decided to play Elfrid Payton (good), however he decided to let Victor Oladipo run the offense (bad). The Suns immediately went on a run as Orlando’s offense stagnated in part to Payton being no threat without the ball in his hands and Oladipo having no idea how to involve his teammates. The Suns flurry was lead by great play calls from their head coach Jeff Hornacek while Magic counter punched by hitting one out of two free throws on multiple occasions. Thankfully for the Magic time was on their side and they were able narrowly escape with the win.

Game Notes:

• Willie Green played 19 minutes tonight. I don’t get it. He stands in the corner and doesn’t move offensively for the majority of the time he’s on the court. Defensively he did an ok job on Gerald Green but one has to think Maurice Harkless could be just as effective.
• It couldn’t be more clear that the Magic need to start Elfrid Payton at Point Guard. The Magic look like a completely different team on both ends with him on the floor.
• Benching Victor Oladipo might be the best thing for him. Oladipo looks lost off the ball and hijacks way too many possessions from quality teammates when he’s playing the point.
• It’s good to have Kyle O’Quinn back. The defense of the second unit is way more effective with O’Quinn protecting the paint.
• Channing Frye is slowly being phased out of this offensive game plan. This is not what Rob Hennigan had in mind when he signed Frye to that contract over the summer.
• Ben Gordon still has value as a volume scorer off the bench. Just don’t let him dribble too much.
• The Magic have now won 5 road games this season. That’s more than they won all of last season.

Rookie Report:

Elfrid Payton: Payton has come a long way already in his rookie season. One of the biggest differences I’ve seen in Payton these past few games is his aggressive mentality. He may not be scoring efficiently but he’s breaking down the defense and that’s opening up things for his teammates. Another thing that’s been extremely impressive is just how much Elfrid has picked up his pace. To start the year Elfrid wanted to slow it down and turn the game into a half court slug fest. Now, more often than not he wants to push the ball up the court to set up his teammates or himself before the defense has a chance to set. Tonight Payton did everything he could to will the Magic to victory and even with a few bad turnovers towards the end he definitely was the teams key to victory.