The Orlando Magic come back from a 23-point deficit against the New Orleans Pelicans to close out the preseason with a 2-5 record.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT1 | T | |
| Pelicans | 38 | 24 | 23 | 20 | 6 | 111 |
| Magic | 22 | 28 | 25 | 30 | 9 | 114 |
The Orlando Magic were coming into their preseason finale at home against the New Orleans Pelicans looking to rebound after an ugly loss on Tuesday night in Miami. To make matters more difficult, Anthony Davis was set to return from his ankle injury for the Pelicans.
Early on it looked like the Magic were on their way to another blowout loss. The Pelicans led by as much as 23 points and took control early behind Anthony Davis’ stellar play, scoring 24 of his 33 points in the first half.
The Magic performance in the second half was the complete opposite of what we saw in the first half. The Magic were able to pick up the intensity on defense and had much better ball movement on offense and as a result they were able to cut the deficit.
It was not until the fourth quarter the Magic defense finally started to play to its potential.
The Magic were scrappy on defense and protected the rim, which allowed them to cut the lead and get back in the game. With 49.3 seconds left the Magic found themselves down three points. The next possession, Elfrid Payton banked in a three point shot to tie the game at 105 and force overtime.
The Magic fought back from a 23 point deficit in this game and the main reason was the tenacious defense the team displayed in the fourth quarter, in which they forced the Pelicans to shoot 6/21 from the field. In overtime, the Magic had all of the momentum.
With the game tied and 19 seconds left, Payton hit a tough runner to give the Magic a two point lead and eventually a 114-111 win at Amway Center on Thursday.
The Magic displayed some resilience in this game after a very sluggish start to the game. The team did not give up in this one and a strong defensive fourth quarter plus some key shots from Evan Fournier and Elfrid Payton in the fourth quarter and overtime helped the Magic complete the comeback.
The Magic end the preseason in a good note heading into their season opened on Wednesday against the Miami Heat.