Magic Musings: Late rally not enough on road against Heat
Coming off back-to-back last-minute losses to end the home portion of their schedule, the Orlando Magic offered scant resistance for three quarters Monday night to a Miami Heat team desperately trying to keep its faint playoff hopes alive.
The Magic watched Hassan Whiteside record the type of dominating performance that Nikola Vucevic usually turns in against the Heat as they were defeated 100-93.
Victor Oladipo had 30 points to pace the Magic, while Tobias Harris finished with 26. But Vucevic, who averaged 28.3 points in the three previous games against the Heat, had only three in being held to single digits for the first time all season. He did not play at all in the fourth quarter.
Whiteside matched his career high of 24 points through three quarters as the Heat had their way until going cold in the final 12 minutes. A 3-point field goal by Channing Frye, who did not play at all until the beginning of the fourth quarter, cut the Magic's deficit to 94-86 with less than three minutes remaining. It was the first time the Magic trailed by fewer than 10 points since late in the first quarter.
A layup by Harris made it a six-point game with 1:22 to go before Luol Deng's 3-pointer sealed the win for the Heat, who got a reprieve when the Brooklyn Nets lost 113-86 at home to the Chicago Bulls.
Aaron Gordon made the seventh start of his rookie season and the first in more than two months. But the 19-year-old forward missed 12 of his 14 shots in 32 minutes.
Despite getting 15 points from Oladipo in the third quarter, the Magic trailed 84-66 when the fourth quarter opened.
Evan Fournier was held out as a precautionary measure for a second game in a row.
It marked the first time in four meetings between the instate rivals that the home team had won.
THE TURNING POINT
The Heat seized control by going on a 17-4 run late in the first quarter. Except for a 3 by Deng which got things started, all their scoring came on layups or dunks.
THE DIFFERENCE MAKER
Whiteside had 13 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots to help the Heat to a 57-39 lead at the end of a first half when they were up by as many as 22 points.
STAT OF THE GAME
After scoring a total of 38 points in the paint against the Magic in an overtime game Feb. 25 at Orlando, the Heat had 42 by halftime.
WHAT'S NEXT
Wednesday night at Brooklyn, 8 p.m. (End of regular season)
You can follow Ken Hornack on Twitter @HornackFSFla or email him at khornack32176@gmail.com.
