Orlando Magic remain defenseless, fall to New York Knicks
The Orlando Magic need to find some defensive effort to reverse this losing streak. The New York Knicks trounced the Magic in the effort department 113-106.
38. Final. 113. 27. 106
Jacque Vaughn‘s statements were short and simple. No matter how reporters tried to phrase the question, his answer was the same.
The Magic are going to continue to struggle if they do not take more pride defensively and care more about stopping someone from scoring than scoring themselves.
No matter how you reshape that answer, it is the plain truth. The Magic were caught flat-footed and watching as Lance Thomas flew in for a put-back dunk that put the Knicks up four late in the fourth quarter. They were caught flat-footed and watching as Carmelo Anthony found Langston Galloway in the corner for a six-point lead late.
No matter how fast the Magic want to play, or how many points Nikola Vucevic scored — 34 points, by the way, tying a career high — the Magic were not going to win, even against the New York Knicks.
The Knicks did not rely on Carmelo Anthony to finish it. They relied on outhustling the Magic and working it to the right man. New York continued Orlando’s frustrations with a 113-106 victory at Madison Square Garden. It was a game that continued to show defense is going to be the difference.
| Score | Off. Rtg. | eFG% | O.Reb.% | TO% | FTR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orlando | 106 | 104.6 | 54.6 | 17.8 | 12.8 | 21.8 |
| New York | 113 | 110.5 | 52.7 | 27.9 | 12.3 | 23.1 |
Nikola Vucevic (ORL) — 34 pts., 18 rebs.; Victor Oladipo (ORL) — 15 pts.
Carmelo Anthony (NYK) — 25 pts., 7 rebs; Jason Smith (NYK) — 19 pts.
And right now, Orlando cannot get any stops. None.
Even when things started out pretty well. New York scored 20 points in the first quarter and then proceeded to score 31 points in each of the final three quarters. The Knicks took it to the Magic, pressuring them on defense and picking them apart offensively with the pick and roll.
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Orlando was slow to rotate often and slow to box out. New York grabbed 12 offensive rebounds. Sure the Knicks only got 11 second chance points, but each one was a symbol of the Magic’s struggles on the glass. And the lanes they left open.
So too was Jason Smith‘s performance. Smith hit three of his four 3-point attempts on his way to 19 points. Most of those came on great ball reversals as Channing Frye was caught covering the big man rolling through the lane and was too slow to get back out to the perimeter. With Nikola Vucevic hedging more on defense, the Magic were giving up chaos behind him in the paint.
Tobias Harris still needs some time to get back into the swing of things (he shot 4 for 14 and missed on all six of his 3-point shots). Aaron Gordon is still playing limited minutes. Both showed flashes of what they could be when fully healthy. As did the entire Magic.
Orlando had moments where the defense was indeed strong. The Magic got stops and got out on the break. Of it they did not, they executed some decent offense. Mostly by dumping the ball into Nikola Vucevic and letting him destroy whoever was guarding him on the interior.
The Magic’s offense was solid for the most part.
Victor Oladipo had only two points in the first half, but ducked his head and did a better job getting to the basket in the second. Both he and Elfrid Payton seemed capable of getting into the paint at will. Payton tallied 11 assists, many on dump offs to Vucevic. And he continued to play hard.
The rest of the Magic just could not consistently make shots. Even if they were good ones.
There were too many 3-pointers tonight as the Magic relied heavily on the outside shot. Orlando was 7 for 27 at the end of the day. A lot of missed opportunities to carve a weak Knicks defense.
And in any NBA game, when you do not put a team away or take advantage of their weakness you are going to pay. The Knicks still have NBA players and still have Carmelo Anthony.
The fourth quarter was an exercise in frustration as the Magic fell behind by double digits, needing another spike in intensity and effort to get back into the game.
Orlando though lost it at some point. The Magic stood and watched offensive rebounds and watched 3-pointers go up on great ball rotations. They let the Knicks beat them to loose balls. They focused their eyes too much on Carmelo Anthony and let Lance Thomas or Langston Galloway or Jason Smith hang around find their spot for open shots.
New York made them. The Knicks deserved to win.
And the effort from the Magic was completely inexcusable. A winnable game was lost solely on effort and failing to take pride on the defensive end.
That pride has to come from somewhere. Until then, the losing will continue.