The Orlando Magic were able to hold off the Sacramento Kings in the fourth quarter for a 102-94 victory, their first home win this season.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
| Kings | 29 | 21 | 28 | 16 | 94 |
| Magic | 23 | 33 | 28 | 18 | 102 |
Chalk this one up as another grind-it-out win for the Orlando Magic.
The Magic found themselves trailing early after the first quarter. DeMarcus Cousins was an absolute monster, dominating Serge Ibaka and hitting shots from all over the floor. It was quickly becoming another one of “those” nights for the Magic.
All of a sudden, the second quarter hit. The Magic turned up the intensity and played some great defense. That defense led to some great offense as the Magic drained seven shots from behind the arc in the quarter and took firm control of the game.
When Cousins and Rudy Gay were on the floor, the Magic had some defensive issues. None of the bigs other than Bismack Biyombo could slow down Cousins. And Gay is one of the most talented wing scorers in the league. The problem arose for Sacramento when they were both off the floor.
Sacramento’s bench was unable to muster any significant offense. It was a problem all night. Especially when Jeff Green and D.J. Augustin were able to muster some offense. Green had a solid offensive night after looking lost against Philadelphia on Tuesday night.
The Kings were able to make things interesting in the fourth quarter as the Magic’s offense slowed down after two good quarters. The Magic though were able to find an answer. They ground out the game again, winning while scoring fewer than 20 points in the fourth quarter for the second straight game.
The best sign of the night for Orlando was Evan Fournier. He was a machine on the offensive end as he ended the night shooting 66 percent from the field. He dropped 29 points and added a trio of 3-pointers.
Orlando now has a two-game winning streak and the team is starting to play better. There are still issues, but the team has scratched and clawed for these wins.