Orlando had lost its lead yet again. For the second straight night, the Magic saw a 17-point lead evaporate and had to come together and finish. Not an easy thing to do.
Maybe those old narratives about this team have to finally, and peacefully, die. The Magic did it again. They wavered, but they did not fall.
The momentum turned with Channing Frye somehow hitting a 3-pointer with 0.1 seconds left on the shot clock as Elfrid Payton tried desperately to get the ball out of his hands and to a shooter. Frye is as good as any other, but this barely gave him any time to get set and fire up a rhythm jumper.
The 3-pointer Frye made was incredible and quieted the Sleep Train Pavilion crowd, silencing a 15-2 run that tied the game. From there, Orlando got a stop and Victor Oladipo drained a rhythm jumper from the foul line. Orlando burned off seven unanswered to retake control and give themselves some opportunity to take a breath.
And, eventually, to celebrate a 105-96 win to complete a 3-3 West Coast road trip. This one continued some of Orlando’s best play of the season. The team really came together.
| Score | Off. Rtg. | eFG% | O.Reb.% | TO% | FTR | |
| Orlando | 105 | 116.5 | 56.0 | 27.8 | 11.0 | 16.9 |
| Sacramento | 96 | 102.9 | 46.8 | 23.1 | 10.8 | 35.4 |
For the Magic, it started with some great movement on the offensive end. The Magic moved the ball and moved off the ball, working well together.
Victor Oladipo looked like a point guard in many respects, driving to the basket and dishing out to the perimeter, mainly Tobias Harris whom Oladipo found on the corner on at least three occasions. Harris was shooting confidently and did not seem capable of missing. It was Oladipo and Harris’ willingness to attack the basket helped save the Magic when the offense began to fall flat.
Until then, Orlando was sharing the ball and moving it well. Even if shots were not falling, the Magic continually got good shots.
The Kings made adjustments though. The fourth quarter comeback was assisted by the Kings increasing their defensive intensity and pushing the Magic further and further away from the basket to initiate their offense. This forced the Magic into more difficult shots than they had taken previously in the game.
And probably forced the Frye chuck that turned the momentum and helped the Magic complete this game.
Orlando’s defense came and went. It is slowly getting better and slowly rounding into the form fans expected at the beginning of the season. The rotations were good with Dewayne Dedmon blocking shots and protecting the rim for three blocks.
Fouls though changed the game. And Orlando’s perimeter defenders could not always keep guys in front of them and the team switched on a lot of perimeter screens. That hurt the Magic when they failed to make the switch or switched into a mismatch. It also hurt when Channing Frye was in at center as Kyle O’Quinn spent much of the game in foul trouble.
That is how Jason Thompson got free for 18 points or how Derrick Williams somehow dominated the fourth quarter for 14 points.
The Magic though withstood it all, including their own foul issues — giving up 28 free throw attempts — and played an overall strong game. They had to in order to lead from the first quarter on.
The Magic will learn to put teams away eventually. The second unit, the one that built the lead in the second quarter, gave up the lead in the fourth quarter. Orlando relied on its best players to finish the game.
That would be Oladipo and Harris. Harris scored 27 points and Oladipo had 16 points and seven assists on 6-for-15 shooting. The Magic dished out 26 assists on 42 field goal makes. Harris made 10 of his 17 shots. It was an efficient performance. Harris made tough shots, made easy shots, made 3-pointers.
These were the two players the Magic relied on to lead them to victory. Again.
They should not always be relied on to bail them out. But it is nice to know they can do that when the Magic need a big shot. That was the place the Magic were at the last two games.
In the larger picture, it certainly says something the Magic bounced back after giving up that lead. It certainly says something that they rallied for a 3-3 road trip out West. Six games in nine nights is not easy. Orlando could have easily packed it in and headed home.
The Magic found a little bit of their identity on this West Coast trip.
It is an offense that can sneak up on teams that are unprepared with crisp passing and attacking off the pick and roll from Oladipo, Elfrid Payton and Maurice Harkless. It is a defense that will generally do the right thing for stretches and give the team a chance to make some huge strides. It is still a young team though that will make mistakes.
And find a way to get through them. That has to be worth something. At least a trip home feeling good.
