The Orlando Magic escaped a late rally from the Boston Celtics and saw a 27-point lead collapse to three before holding on.
A win is a win.
The Orlando Magic escaped with one after nearly blowing a 27-point fourth quarter lead. The Magic just do not seem to have it in them to play hard for 48 minutes.
As we have witnessed previously in Toronto and more recently at home against Atlanta and Philadelphia, Orlando cannot hang onto its double digit leads in the second half. This time unlike the Magic’s typical third quarter collapse, the Magic took a rare step forward and saved the meltdown for the fourth quarter this time.
However the causes seemed very similar. Lack of focus and lack of cohesion between the players on the court. The Celtics outscored the Magic 35-15 in the fourth before the Magic sealed the game late thanks to Tobias Harris and Kyle O’Quinn. Harris led the Magic with 19 points, O’Quinn added 18 points and 13 boards and also contributed big time on defense by being vocal with his teammates.
The first half was a perfect example of why fans are so frustrated by this team.
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The Magic blitzed the Celtics on defense. They made every rotation, they helped the helper to perfection, they anticipated passing lanes with precision, and they contested just about every Celtics shot without fouling. This outstanding defense helped the Magic offensively too. The turnovers and stops afforded the Magic a multitude of fastbreak chances.
For a team that struggles to execute their half court offense the Magic need their defense to create these kinds of easy points for their offense. As a result of their dominant defense the Magic took a commanding 53-30 lead into the half.
The second half is where things started to shift for the Magic and it was immediately recognizable to fans and Magic head coach Jacque Vaughn. Just one defensive possession into the second half the Magic had a defensive breakdown and Vaughn called a timeout to try and get his team’s head into the game.
Hardwood Houdini
The third quarter became a back and forth affair as the Magic could not stop the Celtics offense, however the Celtics could not stop the Magic offense either.
The Magic offense was led in the third quarter by Elfrid Payton. Payton scored 10 points (4 for 4 FG’s) and tallied three assists in the third to help Orlando maintain its lead.
The problem for the Magic was it seemed unlikely that they would be able to sustain that level of offense while the Celtics’ looks, particularly the looks created by former Magic point guard Jameer Nelson, seemed like they could be maintained as long as the Magic could not contain his dribble penetration.
In the fourth quarter, these things proved to be true. Elfrid Payton was taken out and the Magic offense collapsed. The front court of Channing Frye and Nikola Vucevic once again proved to be incompetent because neither player is quick enough to rotate on the pick and roll or help on the weak side.
Orlando’s offense as per usual stalled when Victor Oladipo was forced to take over duties at point guard. When Oladipo comes in at point guard the Magic just cannot get into a consistent groove offensively. Between poor shot selection and questionable passes Oladipo just is not a natural table setter.
The Celtics went on a 27-3 run in the fourth quarter to cut the Magic lead to just three with 2:33 left. However that is as close as the Celtics would get thanks to Tobias Harris and Kyle O’Quinn who scored eight of Orlando’s final 10 points. The Celtics were led by Jameer Nelson who scored nine points and tallied 11 assists and Tyler Zeller who scored 22 points on nine shots.
Game Notes:
- Kyle O’Quinn deserves a HUGE round of applause after this one. If there was one guy you could point out who played hard the entire game Kyle O’Quinn was that guy.
- Victor Oladipo does not appear to be a very good defender right now. Jameer Nelson consistently beat Oladipo off the dribble and it allowed Nelson to break down the rest of the Orlando defense. Hopefully Oladipo will be able to pick up his defensively play soon because this seems to be a trend as of late.
- Nikola Vucevic and Channing Frye just do not work together down low. The Magic went to that lineup during the Celtic’s big run and the Celtics feasted at the rim. Jacque Vaughn noted that one of the things his lineup change is trying to do is to mix up the center rotation to pair Frye with Dewayne Dedmon and Vucevic with O’Quinn.
- Evan Fournier’s box score suggests he played fairly poorly but that is not the case. Fournier had great looks all night they just did not fall. If Fournier continues taking the shots he took tonight not a single Magic fan will be upset with him.
- The Magic are starting to be affected by the lack of whistles going their way. Late in the game as the Celtics were coming back every call that did not go Orlando’s way was argued by Magic players. Unfortunately this lead to some guys not getting back on defense because they were pre-occupied arguing with officials.
Rookie Report:
Elfrid Payton: Payton in his second start seems to be finding his way with the current group. Payton did a good job of setting up his teammates early and did a solid job helping on defense. Most important was Elfrid’s third quarter which very well may have been the difference in the game. Payton made one jumper and three floaters too help the Magic trade buckets with the Celtics when the Magic defensive disappeared. Sooner rather than later I would guess the Magic let Payton take over ball handling duties from Oladipo full time.