Orlando Magic Grades: Sacramento Kings 105, Orlando Magic 99
The Orlando Magic let one slip through their fingers as the Sacramento Kings stole a victory behind the hot shooting of Garrett Temple.
The Orlando Magic had lost the lead they had nurtured almost the entire game. Garrett Temple was raining shots on them, burying a dagger over Elfrid Payton to give the Sacramento Kings a four-point lead.
Orlando needed an answer. From anyone. Just find a way to get a basket.
They would turn to Aaron Gordon on this instance, driving to the basket only to get met by Willie Cauley-Stein for a block. The Magic would get a contested three on their next possession. . . no good and ball game.
That was the way things were throughout the fourth quarter. Temple hits a big shot, the Magic unable to answer. Good looks or bad looks it did not matter.
Orlando was unable to put Sacramento away in what was a sloppy performance that featured 17 turnovers including seven from Aaron Gordon. The Kings eventually pulled away behind Temple’s 19 fourth-quarter points (34 overall) for a 105-99 win at the Amway Center, breaking their eight-game losing streak.
The Magic’s solid play from the last four games came only in flashes. It was hardly enough to pull away. The Magic led by as much as 11 and seemed like they could coast to a victory. But each time Sacramento was able to draw itself closer and make it a game.
Then the fourth quarter came.
Orlando scored only 17 points and made just 6 of 20 shots. The team missed on seven of its eight 3-point attempts in the quarter. The team slowly saw its lead dissipate and saw the King stake advantage and take the lead.
When they finally did, Orlando seemed to be forcing its offense, trying to create one-on-one plays for Aaron Gordon or Elfrid Payton or Evan Fournier. That is not how the Magic can build a successful offense. Not with their players and their roster.
After the game, coach Frank Vogel could only offer his disappointment and frustration. The team had let momentum slip by them. Instead of building off of strong wins, they gave into their own hype. What little of it they could have.
At the end, that was not enough.
Orlando Magic. AARON GORDON. C-. Aaron Gordon is going to try to be the one to get the Orlando Magic offense unstuck. He feels that responsibility and he sometimes takes that on a bit too literally. It works rarely — Gordon’s best games still come when the team uses its defense to charge its transition game and passing to get him open shots or attacking rotations. And so when Gordon is trying to force things the results are disastrous.<p>Gordon finished with 16 points on 6-for-17 shooting, making just 2 of his 7 3-pointers. Perhaps worse, Gordon had seven turnovers, including five in the first half. Gordon was not efficient and was trying to drive the ball into traffic far too often. That was a big problem for the Magic’s offense all around. And Gordon was a big piece of that offensive inefficiency.</p><p>He struggled a bit too on defense, having to matchup with the Kings’ bigs in Willie Cauley-Stein and <a rel=. PF
C. Elfrid Payton spent the first half driving an efficient and effective Orlando Magic offense. He was able to get into the lane and finish around the basket, finding players cutting to the basket and putting on pinpoint passes for easy baskets. That is what Payton can do at his best.<p>He finished with 21 points and seven assists, adding three steals. He did a lot of good things offensively. But his second half was not nearly as good offensively. The ball movement stopped as the Kings started switching every on-ball screen. Orlando could not break things down.</p><p>And then Payton’s defensive struggles popped up again. Payton has a tendency to sink into the ball on drives and roam a bit too much. So when Garrett Temple popped open once, that was excusable. But it happened again and again for the Magic’s defense. Payton was not the only culprit, but he takes a lion’s share of the blame for sure.</p>. PG. Orlando Magic. ELFRID PAYTON
B. Coach Frank Vogel offered some regret postgame with how he used <a href=. G/F. Orlando Magic. JONATHON SIMMONS
C. <a href=. G/F. Orlando Magic. EVAN FOURNIER
A+. The Orlando Magic should know better than anyone just how desperate a team on a long losing streak can be. The Sacramento Kings were on an eight-game skid as they traveled to the Amway Center, coming off another disappointing loss in Charlotte. The Magic had to know the Kings were going to come out with as much energy as they could, fired up and ready to break the streak.<p>That was evident early on. The Magic had control of the game but could never put the Kings away. Willie Cauley-Stein finished with 21 points and five blocks, flying to the basket and swatting shots at the rim. But it was Garrett Temple who finished it off.</p><p>He scored 17 straight points in the fourth quarter, dropping 19 of his 34 points in the final frame. The Magic’s defense was lax on him and he kept burning them again and again. All credit goes to the Kings here. The Magic were lazy and still had a chance to win the game. But the KIngs just took it.</p>. 14-33. 15th West. SACRAMENTO KINGS
The Orlando Magic go back on the road next to take on freshly minted All-Star Victor Oladipo and the Indiana Pacers on Saturday.