The Orlando Magic were locked in defensively from the start and they dominated the New Orleans Pelicans for a big home win, their fifth in a row at Amway.
The Orlando Magic were going to be first to every ball.
That was abundantly clear from the tip as the Orlando Magic deflected and repelled everything at the rim in their attempt to slow down the New Orleans Pelicans. Nothing was going to be easy and everything was going to belong to the Magic from the start.
And the Magic made that abundantly clear at the end of the first quarter.
Terrence Ross started to heat up, drawing a foul on a made 3-pointer for yet another four-point play opportunity. But he missed the free throw.
Khem Birch fought his way for position and got the rebound, finding Terrence Ross again out at the 3-point line to drain another three. With 0.8 seconds left in the quarter, the Magic had completed a rare six-point possession and taken a commanding 39-25 lead after one quarter.
New Orleans never really got close in an 119-96 Orlando win at Amway Center on Wednesday.
The Magic were on point on both ends fo the floor for most of the night. Whether it was Nikola Vucevic hitting a touch pass to D.J. Augustin who touched it to Jonathan Isaac for an alley-oop or just digging out an offensive rebound to keep a possession alive — Orlando had 20 of those for 19 second-chance points — the ball was moving quickly and the Magic were getting to the glass as quickly as possible. They were first it seemed to every loose ball.
When the team made mistakes, it was quick to recover, challenging and swatting shots with ease. Orlando committed 11 turnovers in the first half, which put a damper on the team’s overall defensive efforts. But New Orleans had a difficult time making anything, shooting just 34.8 percent for the game.
The Pelicans cut the lead to 15 early in the third quarter after a slew of Magic turnovers. But impressively, Orlando did not give up many points off those miscues and then righted the ship behind a pair of Aaron Gordon 3-pointers. The Magic were clearly locked in and going to win this one running away.
Orlando had its deep bench in for the final five minutes of the game. Orlando just coasted to a victory.
The Orlando Magic’s homestand continues Friday when the Magic take on the Memphis Grizzlies. The Orlando Magic trail the Miami Heat by one game for the final spot in the Playoffs (the Heat are playing the San Antonio Spurs at the time of publishing).
With one more Orlando Magic win or one more Atlanta Hawks loss, the Magic will be eliminated from receiving the fifth-best odds to win the NBA Draft Lottery.