Orlando Magic lose heartbreaker to Memphis Grizzlies in overtime as losing streak extends

It was as close as could be, but the Orlando Magic fell to the Memphis Grizzlies in overtime on Monday night.

The Orlando Magic have been searching anywhere they can for a win. Maybe going on the road would help them find their winning ways and mojo after a crushing defeat to the Charlotte Hornets.

The Magic have not won in Memphis for eight seasons and the Memphis Grizzlies are never a team to take lightly.

Orlando could have had that win in their grasps, but no team can ever relax when it comes to playing Memphis.

The Magic took a four-point lead with 27.7 seconds left after Evan Fournier dug out a steal against Marc Gasol and found Tobias Harris ahead for a runaway dunk.

Memphis though quickly attacked and got those two points back from Jeff Green, allowing chaos to ensue.

Harris, with a timeout in his pocket that Scott Skiles reminded his team they had, failed to get the inbound in. The Grizzlies stole the rushed pass and set up their play to force overtime.

Jeff Green delivered and the shaken Magic did not have enough in overtime.

The Magic ended up with a six-point loss in overtime at FedExForum on Monday, finishing on the wrong side of 108-102 extending their losing streak to six games and breaking the hearts of Orlando fans everywhere as it seemed they might just scratch out a win.

Tobias Harris (ORL) — 16 pts.; Nikola Vucevic (ORL) — 16 pts., 14 rebs.
Jeff Green (MEM) — 30 pts.; Zach Randolph (MEM) — 18 pts., 13 rebs.

After heroics from Nikola Vucevic and Elfrid Payton to get them to an overtime period, the Magic simply went cold in extra time and could not get over the hump.

The game was one of peaks and valleys for the Magic. Early on the Magic were able to hold a lead over the Grizzlies, mostly due to superior 3-point shooting from Evan Fournier, Tobias Harris and friends. Despite being outsized by the famous Grizzly bigs, the Magic also managed to protect the paint fairly well with young Aaron Gordon doing especially well on slowing Zach Randolph and cleaning the boards.

However, as it so often does, having an early lead only led to disappointment later on. The 3-point shooting dried up in the second half but worse than that was the turnovers.

Travels, three second violations, errant passes, the team showed them all off, and the Grizzlies not famous runners, made them pay on the break. Combine this with Grizzlies’ finally tightening their inside defense and becoming dominant on the boards, themes that run through into overtime, and the Magic seemed to be out of luck again.

The Orlando offense seemed to break down several times during the game and seemed to stutter and start like an old car.

Orlando would often be caught just watching the ball instead of moving off ball, and while those 3-point shots bailed them out early on, that was not a lasting plan.

In overtime, though Memphis did a fantastic job of disrupting the Orlando offense, Orlando still managed to end up with wide-open shots for Fournier, Payton and Oladipo but none could but it away.

The Magic almost fooled everyone into thinking they had earned a win. Despite giving up their lead with 6:48 remaining in the game, Vucevic and Payton, dragged the team back and took a lead with two minutes left. Still two up with 10 seconds left, it was a turnover that undid the Magic’s hard work. The ball ended up in Jeff Green’s hands. Green, having the best game of his season, hit a turn-around floater to send the game to overtime.

Green, just a 10.8 point-per-game scorer on the year, finished with 30 points and eight rebounds, and the biggest play of the game. Green set a season high with his performance. Tony Allen also set a career high in rebounds, while Zach Randolph had a quiet 18 and 13 and Marc Gasol added an impressive 17 points, five rebounds, five assists and 4 steals.

On the Orlando side, Vucevic, Fournier and Harris all led the team with 16 points, though only Vucevic came up big late in the game. Vucevic hit three straight baskets in the waning minutes of regulation to force back the lead, and he added 14 boards for his trouble. Harris was especially noteworthy early on, hitting three of his four 3-pointers, but disappeared late.

Evan Fournier, in desperate need of a good game, delivered tonight. His shooting finally found some form as he went four for six from downtown early on and scored 16 overall. It seemed that playing against the 2nd unit was a good way of getting Fournier to heat up early.

Fournier’s percentages did fall as the game went on, but these were mostly desperation heaves at the end of the offense. His struggles on defense against Tony Allen on the glass were especially noticeable as the Grizzlies dug out extra possessions to give themselves extra chances again and again.

On the downside, Oladipo, despite playing 37 minutes, scored just five points on 1-for-10 shooting.

Though the effort was clear from the Magic in the fourth quarter and in overtime, they simply lacked execution. Memphis’ pick and roll gave them fits the entire game, and the stuttering offense was simply not sustainable.

The starters ended up all playing big minutes in an overtime game on the first night of a back to back, which will not bode well for the Magic. They travel to Milwaukee tomorrow to play a young, rested team that has not played since Saturday.

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While the Magic certainly made it entertaining and looked to break the streak, the Grizzlies outplayed them in the clutch. The Magic remain in the 12th spot and face the team directly behind them, the Bucks, tomorrow.