Magic Play Physical, Down Grizzlies

By on April 4, 2016

 

NBA: Utah Jazz at Orlando MagicORLANDO, Fla. – Pride was on the line on Sunday Night at the Amway Center as the Orlando Magic defeated the Memphis Grizzlies by a score of 119 to 107. It was an efficient performance by the Magic against a perpetually shorthanded Grizzlies team. Nikola Vucevic, Evan Fournier, and Victor Oladipo all scored over 20 points for the Magic as they cruised to victory.

It was in the second quarter that Orlando would take control, and they would never relinquish it. The Magic would shoot 63% in the quarter, and score an assertive 38 points. Nine players registered a point in the period, and this multi-faceted attack built a lead from which Memphis would never recover.

The first quarter seemed like it was getting out of hand for the Grizzlies, as an alley-oop from Elfrid Payton to Aaron Gordon brought down the house. Memphis called a timeout less than two minutes into the game with the score at 4-2 Orlando.

What followed was a rare dominance by Matt Barnes, as the 36-year-old swingman would will his team to a lead at the end of the quarter. Barnes was 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, scoring 12 of his team’s 30 points in the quarter. He would finish with a team-high 24, and bolster his team’s performance with vocal leadership.

The second half was tightly contested, with the Magic outscoring the Grizzlies 52-51. With the exception of that second quarter, both teams would be evenly matched throughout the night. Though the Memphis would try to go on a run, Orlando were able to keep their composure and hold the lead – a skill that has been their Achilles heel all season.

Nikola Vucevic continued his rash of strong performances off the bench, scoring 25 points and grabbing 10 rebounds on the night. Since returning from his injury, the Montenegrin big man has averaged 23.6 points on 68% shooting while coming off the bench.

It was through Vucevic that the Magic were able to mirror the Grizzlies’ physical, paint-pounding style. Orlando tied Memphis at 50 points in the paint, and shot more free throws than the Grizz despite having the fewest free throw attempts in the league this season.

“We just tried to take it to them,” said Vucevic “they’re very physical and we were trying to match physicality and I think it worked and were able to get a win”.

Over the last five games, the Orlando Magic have come alive – going 4-1 with wins against playoff hopefuls in the Bulls, Pacers, and Grizzlies.

“Of course we got better,” said Evan Fournier “to be honest right now it’s a lot of frustration when you look back at all the losses we had by two or three points – one possession games, now we’re playing better because we’re finally healthy.”

The Magic (33-44) will remain at home this week, with their next test coming against the Pistons (41-36) on Wednesday. Magic fans will the chance to see Tobias Harris, who the team dealt at the trade deadline for Ersan Ilyasova and Brandon Jennings. Though the Magic have been eliminated from the playoffs, they look to play spoiler to the seventh-seeded Pistons.

Grizzlies
STARTERS MIN FG 3PT FT OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF +/- PTS
Z. RandolphPF 32 5-15 1-2 4-6 2 5 7 7 0 0 1 3 -1 15
C. AndersenPF 16 1-3 0-1 0-0 2 1 3 0 0 0 0 2 -25 2
M. BarnesSF 36 8-17 5-10 3-3 0 5 5 1 0 1 4 4 -13 24
J. FarmarPG 14 1-5 0-3 0-0 0 0 0 3 1 0 2 1 -7 2
T. AllenSG 14 5-8 0-2 0-0 3 3 6 1 0 0 1 0 -8 10
BENCH MIN FG 3PT FT OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF +/- PTS
J. GreenPF 30 5-9 0-0 1-4 3 7 10 3 0 1 0 4 -2 11
J. MartinPF 16 1-3 0-0 5-6 2 4 6 1 0 0 1 2 +11 7
L. StephensonSF 23 4-11 0-0 3-4 0 4 4 3 0 1 1 1 -4 11
R. HollinsC 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 +0 0
B. CottonPG 1 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 +0 2
X. MunfordPG 34 4-8 1-1 1-2 0 2 2 1 2 0 3 3 -5 10
V. CarterSG 24 6-9 1-2 0-1 0 3 3 2 1 0 1 1 -6 13
P.J. HairstonSF DNP-LEFT GROIN STRAIN
TEAM 41-89 8-21 17-26 12 34 46 22 4 4 14 21 107
46.1% 38.1% 65.4%

Magic

STARTERS MIN FG 3PT FT OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF +/- PTS
A. GordonPF 29 5-11 1-3 3-4 4 6 10 3 1 1 0 1 +5 14
D. DedmonC 13 4-4 0-0 0-1 1 2 3 0 0 0 1 2 +5 8
E. PaytonPG 31 2-8 0-1 3-3 2 0 2 11 0 0 1 0 +1 7
E. FournierSG 39 6-15 3-8 7-7 1 1 2 3 1 0 3 5 +5 22
V. OladipoSG 39 9-18 0-4 4-5 2 5 7 2 3 1 0 4 +2 22
BENCH MIN FG 3PT FT OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF +/- PTS
A. NicholsonPF 19 3-5 3-4 1-2 0 6 6 1 1 0 0 1 +7 10
J. SmithPF 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 -5 0
N. VucevicC 32 10-19 0-0 5-7 3 7 10 3 2 1 3 3 +12 25
B. JenningsPG 17 2-5 2-3 0-0 0 3 3 2 0 0 0 1 +11 6
M. HezonjaSG 18 2-4 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 2 2 0 2 1 +17 5
E. IlyasovaPF DNP-COACH’S DECISION
D. MarbleSF DNP-COACH’S DECISION
S. NapierPG DNP-COACH’S DECISION
TEAM 43-90 10-26 23-29 13 30 43 27 10 3 10 21 119
47.8% 38.5% 79.3%
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