Orlando Magic Grades: Dallas Mavericks 112, Orlando Magic 80
The Orlando Magic again laid an egg against the Dallas Mavericks, losing by 30 points and getting outworked and outclassed once again.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
| Magic | 23 | 12 | 17 | 28 | 80 |
| Mavericks | 29 | 32 | 23 | 28 | 112 |
Things started off so well . . .
That memory seems more like a dream. The energetic play and switching. The Magic attacking the basket and using stops to get out in transition. The Magic made some tough shots, but controlled the tempo and even had Mario Hezonja playing well.
Orlando led 14-7.
If only the game ended there. Because after coming out of that timeout in the first quarter, the Mavericks took the game over with a barrage of 3-pointers — 17 in all and took the lead.
They put the hammer down in the second quarter, holding Orlando to 12 points and scoring 32 points on their own. That gave the Mavericks a 26-point lead at halftime and they kept pouring it on. Dallas led by as much as 37 points in a 112-80 win at American Airlines Center on Saturday.
And there was no fight from Orlando. Coach Frank Vogel said after the game the team failed again to respond when their opponent made a run. It was simply unacceptable.
Yet, this has happened time and again. The Magic took another 30-point loss. A simply embarrassing fact of life for this team. Even with all the veterans and all the high-minded aspiration, the Magic are extremely likely to get blown out .
It is not the margin that is frustrating, but the lack of response and lack of fight to make a run.
When Dallas went on their 3-point barrage in the second quarter, Orlando failed to respond. Instead of trying to work through their offense or work together, the isolations and poor shot selection increased. There is a general lack of trust within the team it seems.
Orlando shot just 39.0 percent from the floor a 3 for 23 from beyond the arc. The Magic never got back into rhythm and never put up a fight after the Mavericks made their initial push.
If there is a reason for the Magic’s failures this season, it is this simple reason.
Mario Hezonja
SF, Orlando Magic
Fortunately, his defense seems to be coming around first. His offense may still take some time. Hezonja provided some good energy particularly early in the game. He made a couple of nice steals and got the team out in transition. Generally, he did a good job playing in transition and recovering to his man.
It was far from a perfect night for Hezonja. He still had moments where he lost track of his man off the ball and did not put in a second effort and had his man beat him. He made just 3 of his 11 shots for seven points. He made just one of his six 3-pointers. It is hard to see him as valuable on offense outside of transition plays. But he deserves to get more burn.
Nikola Vucevic
C, Orlando Magic
Vucevic scored three points making just one of his five shots. The fact Vucevic only got five shots is a big concern for sure. Orlando could not get the ball into the post consistently and the team’s poor passing — just 16 assists on 32 field goals — hurt him the most.
Worse still, the Magic guards were poor defensively, often leaving Vucevic ion an island. It left the rim open for lobs to Sala Mejri and the team sucked into the paint to give up so many of those open 3-pointers.
Vucevic’s poor game is less a reflection on him. It is more a reflection of how poorly the team played. There is no reason for Vucevic to be so uninvolved in the game. This F goes to the Magic and less to Vucevic.
Bismack Biyombo
C, Orlando Magic
Biyombo finished with 15 points and seven rebounds, five of them offensive rebounds. That was at least something for the Magic. A lot of that came at the end of the game, but effort was a problem all game overall. Someone playing with some energy was a sight to see.
That is not to say Biyombo was great all game. He missed out on some rebounds trying to tip them instead of grabbing them. And he did not make much of an impact while the game was in doubt.
Evan Fournier
G/F, Orlando Magic
Orlando still needed more though. Fournier still tends to look for his own shot over keeping the ball moving. He will take some off balance step backs over keeping the ball moving or attacking the basket. That is fine when he is making it like he was early in the game. That is not fine when the shot is not falling, as it was the rest of the game.
Defensively, Fournier struggled to keep his man in front of him. Both he and Elfrid Payton struggled with this. And that led to the Mavericks breaking the Magic down often. Everything for the Magic starts with their leaders. And the Magic need more from their leading scorer outside of the scoring ledger.
Dallas Mavericks
22-32, 11th West
The Mavericks did a good job moving the ball and working it around to find open shooters. They picked the right moments to attack and kick out. And defensively they frustrated the Magic into reverting to isolation basketball. Dallas broke Orlando’s will with everything they did.
Wesley Matthews got the 3-point barrage started, scoring 20 points on 6-for-18 shooting from beyond the arc. The 3-point bug spread to Dirk Nowitzki (14 points, 2-for-3 from beyond the arc) to Seth Curry to even Nicolas Brussino. Dallas did whatever they wanted.
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