Orlando Magic Grades: Oklahoma City Thunder 102, Orlando Magic 94
The Orlando Magic again could not make the shots down the stretch as the Oklahoma City Thunder held on for a win and kept the Magic wondering.
149. Final. 94. 38. 102
The Orlando Magic finally had their offense humming. The team’s defense was struggling to completely corral the Oklahoma City Thunder’s ball handlers and get back out to the 3-point shooters, but they were doing well enough. And their offense finally had given them the support.
It was a relative bit of work, but Orlando could seemingly count on its offense to generate some push. The Magic were getting to the line and were finding offensive rebounds and fighting, scratching and clawing their way through.
The fourth quarter again proved to be their struggle. And again, the Magic could not execute down the stretch.
Orlando chased Oklahoma City all game. The team never let the Thunder get too far away. They fought back every time and gave themselves a chance to win. Aaron Gordon hit a fadeaway jumper to cut the lead to two. Orlando had several opportunities to tie the game or take the lead.
But the team was unable to hit from the outside. Again, it was clear the frustration was growing with the team’s own inability to hit shots.
Again, the Magic’s opponent had the shots and answers on the other end.
Oklahoma City started to pull away behind Chris Paul‘s constant probing. He fed Steven Adams on a pick and roll dunk when Jonathan Isaac was late on a switch, giving the Thunder a four-point lead. Orlando never got its offense back from there as Oklahoma City won 102-94 at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Tuesday.
Again, it was the Magic’s shooting that did them in.
Orlando made only three of its 22 3-pointers. Those misses came at critical times and on some pretty good looks. Orlando has struggled to shoot all year. But the team needed to make when it mattered.
Oklahoma City made 12 of 33 from beyond the arc. That difference was too much to overcome for the Magic.
And the offense came to a screeching halt in the fourth quarter. The Magic scored only 15 points in the final frame. The good looks the team got did not seem to matter. The Magic just could not get the shots to go down.
The frustrating part is how close Orlando is. This was not the Magic’s best defensive effort. But they made up for it with offense as they worked to get good shots and get to the line on offense.
But they are still playing with a small margin for error. And the offense stopped long enough that Orlando could not recover. The Magic gave themselves a chance to win a game. But they need to make shots.
B. <a href=. F. Orlando Magic. AARON GORDON
C-. The bottom line is <a href=. C. Orlando Magic. NIKOLA VUCEVIC
<a href=. F. Orlando Magic. AL-FAROUQ AMINU. B+
Like Nikola Vucevic, <a href=. G/F. Orlando Magic. EVAN FOURNIER. D
B. The Oklahoma City Thunder have mapped out a clear way to play. They run a lot of pick and rolls and use their constant attack off the dribble with three high-level point guards putting pressure on the defense. From there they use athleticism to defend and wreak havoc. They play hard and well.<p>The Oklahoma City Thunder did all of that against the Orlando Magic throughout the game. They had control of the game throughout. Yet, the Thunder could never completely pull away. Oklahoma City is not the super-talented team that can just outpace opponents.</p><p>Instead, Oklahoma City took advantage of every mistake — 21 points off 14 turnovers — and made just enough shots to get by. the Thunder know they can break down the defense better than the Magic at least. And that is what things came down to in the fourth quarter.</p>. 3-4. 11th West. OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
Next. Orlando Magic cannot see repeat of 2017 season. dark
The Orlando Magic are back in action Wednesday against the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas.