The Orlando Magic breathed a sigh of relief as they held on to defeat the Golden State Warriors. It was not pretty by any means.
The end of the Orlando Magic’s game felt more like relief than victory. Terrence Ross called it as much. It does not matter how the team wins, so long as it wins. Evan Fournier called it a big win repeatedly.
Something that probably did not need to be said against the Western Conference’s worst team. A game where the Magic again found themselves grinding out every point and trying desperately to get stops.
Orlando never could get away. Even when the team went up six late in the game. The Warriors dutifully came back.
Up by one with 15 seconds to go, Evan Fournier sized up Draymond Green and beat him to the basket for a lay-in. The team, up by three, fouled to stay ahead.
Then Aaron Gordon could not get the ball in after and the stress levels for the team went up again. The Magic were up six with 1:18 to go and came to the brink of defeat.
As Glenn Robinson III sent a three toward the basket to try to win the game, Evan Fournier assumed it was going in, ruining his career night and his heroics to save the Magic. Fournier said he thought it was on target and going in, in somewhat disbelief it eventually fell out.
Relief indeed during the Orlando Magic’s 100-96 win over the Golden State Warriors at the Amway Center on Sunday. It was about the only thing anyone could feel after the team survived this encounter.
Orlando had plenty of moments where it could have eased ahead. But the same offensive struggles from throughout the season continued to emerge. The team’s 42.5-percent shooting from the floor was characteristic of this group. The offense is just a problem and the Magic will go through long stretches where it cannot score.
But the defensive focus and effort were also up and down all game. The Warriors attacked the offensive glass for 16 points off 15 offensive rebounds. They seemed to attack every loose ball quickly and find their offense just long enough to prevent the Magic from pulling away.
Golden State just stayed on the attack. When Orlando was not tight with its defensive rotations or its closeouts, Golden State was always on the attack.
The Magic just held on. They gripped that lead as close as they could and hoped for enough shots to go down.
Fortunately, they had Evan Fournier’s constant scoring throughout the game and Markelle Fultz‘s attack in the fourth quarter. Orlando could indeed breathe a sigh of relief.
The Orlando Magic head back on the road Tuesday to take on the Washington Wizards.