In what has become a disturbing trend over Jacque Vaughn’s tenure as coach the Orlando Magic once again blew a late lead and ultimately fell to a Steph Curry murder bomb. The inability of the Magic to score points in crunch time has to be noted as Orlando was only able to score four points in the final four minutes of the game. On the other side the Warriors star guards Steph Curry and Klay Thompson scored 14 over that same period of time. Some of that can be attributed to the caliber of players that the Warriors have but the Magic only had one good look in those last 4 minutes and that was Kyle O’Quinn’s floater assisted by Elfrid Payton with 1:50 left. Nothing highlighted Orlando’s struggles more than Orlando’s last possession, Jacque Vaughn drew up a Tobias Harris catch behind the three point line and away from the basket with no other options in case it wasn’t open. Turns out Harris couldn’t shake loose and a Draymond Green deflection ended the game. The Warriors were lead by Steph Curry and Klay Thompson who scored a combined 42 points . The Magic were lead by Victor Oladipo who had his best game of the year scoring 27 points on 14 shots and Kyle O’Quinn who started for the injured Nikola Vucevic tallied 21 points and 11 rebounds.
The first half was a game of was Willie Green in the game or not? When Green wasn’t in the game the Magic managed to hand around with the Warriors even ending the first quarter with a 1 point lead. However with Green in the game the Warriors took advantage. They routinely fed the ball to Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green, both who boast huge size advantages over Green and dominated him all over the court. Green also contributed negatively on the offensive side of the ball shooting one for six in the first half. Green finished the first half with 12 minutes played 1-6 shooting and a +/- of -17. The Magic thanks in large part to Jacque Vaughn’s four guard one big lineup were also abused on the glass in the first half and lost the battle 27-14. The Magic ended the first half down 56-46.
The second half was a completely different game. The Magic cranked up their defensive intensity thanks in large part to Kyle O’Quinn and Elfrid Payton and competed on the glass. Orlando went on an 11-0 run in the third quarter to take the lead. Now strangely what stopped this 11-0 run was Orlando Magic coach Jacque Vaughn who called a timeout to presumably give his team a breather even though he had the opposing team on the ropes. The Magic in the fourth quarter were able to extend their lead to nine thanks to a Victor Oladipo three pointer but after the subsequent timeout by Steve Kerr the Warriors made their final push to win the game.
Game Notes:
- Willie Green. Baffling. He played a good game in Charlotte and it’s apparently given him free reign.
- Kyle O’Quinn was benched 30 seconds into this game by Jacque Vaughn for fouling and throwing a poor pass.
- I’m not sure if the Magic really missed Nikola Vucevic. Without Vucevic the Magic players seemed a lot more comfortable on the perimeter and the interior defense was much more stout.
- Jacque Vaughn’s 4 guard lineup was back again. Payton-Oladipo-Gordon-Green-Dedmon/Frye. Make it stop.
- Elfrid Payton is going to have to learn how to attack defenders bodies better. His problem is very similar to Oladipo last year.
- When Channing Frye was in the game in the fourth quarter the Warriors elected to not have Andrew Bogut in the game. That was huge for Orlando’s perimeter attackers.
Elfrid Payton: Payton played another strong game. As I noted before he took a few attempts at the rim that had no chance because he didn’t attack the shot blocker but all in all you like that kind of aggressiveness. On the play where Orlando took a nine point lead in the fourth the Magic let Payton run the pick and roll and he found Oladipo on the wing for three. The Magic need more of that. For as great as Klay Thompson and Steph Curry played in the fourth you can’t blame Payton for a lack of defensive effort. Payton was in the face of both of those players at times and they just made the shot.