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By John DentonNov. 5, 2014
PHILADELPHIA – The final play of the night – the one that finally got the desperate and determined Orlando Magic the victory that they have long sought – was the epitome of the selfless basketball they played with all night long.
Seven-foot center Nikola Vucevic set the screen to free up Evan Fournier, who took the pass from gritty point guard Elfrid Payton. Fournier ignored the shaking in his legs and the wide-open lane in front of him and stuck with the play drawn up in the huddle by head coach Jacque Vaughn.
Then, Channing Frye drilled a defender with a screen to free up Tobias Harris, Frye’s first cousin none the less. And Harris, Orlando’s all-business leader and its hardest worker, confidently stroked the 21-foot shot just before the final horn that gave his teammates some much needed joy.
The final, frantic sequence, capped by Harris’ fade-away jump shot from the right wing, helped Orlando defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 91-89 and win for the first time this season in five tries.
``I told our group that everyone did their job,’’ Vaughn said. ``I talked about that before the game and (Tuesday) after that game. Everyone did their job. … Nik got Evan open, Elfrid was patient out of bounds, a great setup by Tobias and a great screen by Channing. Just a great team win.’’
Harris, who had his father Torrel in the crowd, made his first game-winner since his dramatic buzzer-beating dunk to defeat Oklahoma City last spring. He finished with 18 points – none of them bigger than the final two that caused his teammates to streak from the bench and mob him in a victorious locker room that throbbed with raw emotion.
``I dream about those moments, making a big shot for my team,’’ Harris said candidly after pumping in 18 points and grabbing eight rebounds. ``I know for us it’s been a little hard losing these guys and I’ve been just praying and trying to find ways to lead our team. It’s just good to get the victory. And I think it’s important for our fans to feel this victory with us.’’
Orlando had possession with 4.6 seconds to play after Philadelphia center Henry Sims knotted the game at 89-all with his only basket of the night. Vaughn drew up a play for Harris, who curled around a screen to the right side of the floor. Harris took the pass from Fournier and calmly hit a 21-footer even as he had to fade away slightly to avoid defensive ace Luc Mbah a Moute – a former teammate of his in Milwaukee. Referees reviewed the play, but it showed Harris connecting on the biggest shot of his three-year Magic career.
``Everybody needs wins because nobody wants to go 0-5 or 0-6 or 0-7 or go winless, so for us we continued to get better and we finally got into the `W’ column,’’ Frye said. ``So hopefully we can build on this and continue to grow. Even though we’re still making some mistakes, I feel like we’re learning how to win and win together.’’
Harris had the game-winning shot, but Orlando (1-4) likely wouldn’t have been in position to grab the victory without the numerous contributions of Payton – who, ironically enough, Orlando acquired in a draft-night trade with the Sixers back in June.
After the Magic had blown a four-point lead and their offense was reeling midway through the fourth quarter, Payton followed up a Harris miss with a layup that tied the game at 87-all with 1:16 to play. Then, seconds later, Payton drove hard into the lane and found a cutting Harris for the go-ahead basket with 51 seconds to play.
Finally, Payton dived on the floor with 32 seconds to play to knock the ball away from Philadelphia center Henry Sims to secure possession of the ball for Orlando. The Magic (1-4) then survived a frantic final 11 seconds to secure their first victory of the season.
``I was just trying to fight, keep fighting and fight to the end,’’ said Payton, who finished with eight points, six rebounds, five assists, four steals and a blocked shot. ``One play I was able to get into the lane and (Harris) was able to finish. I played a little defense and got the backcourt. They got a rebound and I was able to get in there and make a play. I just kept fighting but we had to get this `W’ tonight.’’
Payton came into Wednesday having equaled some NBA history when he had at least seven assists in the first four games of his career. Only Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson (1960) and Washington star John Wall (2010) have ever done that to begin their careers. Payton saw his assist streak end, but it didn’t matter after Orlando notched a much-needed victory.
Said Frye of Payton’s relentless hustle: ``He turned into a pit bull and he attacked that bone. That’s pretty much it. That’s what he does and that’s what we needed him to do. It’s been a tough go for him in the matchups, but he’s stepped up to the challenge and he’s giving us a chance to win almost every night.’’
Orlando opened the season by dropping games to four likely playoff-bound teams – New Orleans, Washington, Toronto and Chicago – before finding a way to gut out Wednesday’s win. The 0-4 start was a first for the Magic since 1990, but they hung tough down the stretch on Wednesday despite playing their second game in as many nights.
Vucevic, another player that Orlando acquired from Philadelphia two seasons ago, started strong and scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. His five double-doubles – one in every game this season – are the most in the NBA.
Philadelphia fell to 0-5, joining the Lakers as the only 0-5 teams in the NBA. Point guard Tony Wroten scored 27 points, while Brandon Davies chipped in 20 points. Nerlens Noel (four points and three assists) left the game in the second half with a sprained ankle.
The Magic came into the game having lost 12 in a row and 28 of their last 29 road games, two streaks that date back to last season. The one victory, fittingly enough for Wednesday’s background, was in Philadelphia last Feb. 26 to a 76ers team that ended up with the NBA’s second-worst record.
Orlando was playing a second game in as many nights in their first back-to-back of the season. The Magic fell 98-90 on Tuesday in Chicago in a game in which their starters played big minutes and were in the game until the final horn. They would not be denied their first victory on Wednesday night.
``This hopefully gives our guys a chance to relax,’’ Vaughn said. ``You can sense (the added pressure) at different points in the game where they wanted to win and they wanted it to happen right now. But hopefully we can relax after getting that one win now.’’
A day after playing their first of 17 back-to-back sets of games for the season, the Magic will be off on Thursday. They will host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Amway Center.
The Magic are still without standout guard Victor Oladipo, who has yet to play this season because of a knee injury and a facial fracture below his right eye. Oladipo will rejoin his teammates on Friday at the Amway Center, but he still isn’t allowed to fly because of the lingering swelling in his face following surgery.
The Magic also didn’t have power forward Kyle O’Quinn for a fourth consecutive game because of a sprained ankle. O’Quinn, who rolled his ankle in the opening loss in New Orleans, got in an on-court workout before the game and has hopes of playing on Friday.
Orlando shot the ball exceptionally well early in the game and had a huge advantage on the inside with Vucevic, yet it was only tied at 52 with the Sixers because of an old problem. The Magic turned the ball over nine times in the first quarter and 14 times in the first 18 minutes of the game to negate much of their offensive efficiency. Orlando finished with 24 turnovers, mistakes that led to 20 points for the Sixers.
At one point of the first half, Orlando had made 17 of 31 shots (54.8 percent), but it mattered very little because of the crippling 14 turnovers early in the game.
But all that mattered at the end of the night was Orlando’s pinpoint execution of the final play and Harris’ confident shot from 21 feet out. The victory allowed the Magic to finally celebrate and to breathe a sigh of relief.
``Yeah, they mobbed me a little bit, but everybody is just so excited,’’ Harris said of the locker room celebration. ``Whether we won this off a game-winner or in overtime, we would have been extremely to get this first win tonight.’’