Magic Musings: Tobias Harris comes through for dramatic victory
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Even with as many road games as they've played this season, it was not a good sign for the Orlando Magic to go almost a full month without winning at home.
That ended in dramatic fashion Saturday night as Tobias Harris' running jump shot at the buzzer gave the Magic a 100-99 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
Helped in large part by the return of center Nikola Vucevic, who had missed their last six games with a low back sprain, the Magic snapped the Hawks' nine-game winning streak and won at home for the first time since Nov. 14 against the Milwaukee Bucks. Neither team led by more than six points at any point in the game.
The Magic seemed to have things in hand after going on an 11-2 run in the final three minutes which included seven points by Victor Oladipo. But after Harris missed the second of two free throws with 8.4 seconds remaining, the Hawks called a timeout and set up a play for Kyle Korver, the NBA leader in 3-point accuracy (.559). Korver, who hadn't made a 3 all game, nailed one despite Evan Fournier having a hand in his face to give the Hawks a 99-98.
Harris, who delivered a game-winning shot Nov. 5 at Philadelphia, came through to save the Magic.
Vucevic recorded his 14th double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
The Hawks missed a chance to pull even with the Toronto Raptors for the best record in the Eastern Conference.
THE TURNING POINT
Harris took Fournier's inbound pass with 3.4 seconds to go and nailed a shot directly in front of the Magic bench.
THE DIFFERENCE MAKER
Harris led the Magic with 20 points and also blocked three shots.
STAT OF THE GAME
Oladipo, who turned the ball over just three times in 33 minutes Friday night, had five turnovers in the opening 8½ minutes. The 10 turnovers the Magic had in the first quarter were a high for them in any period this season.
WHAT'S NEXT
Monday night at Toronto, 7:30 p.m.
You can follow Ken Hornack on Twitter @HornackFSFla or email him at khornack32176@gmail.com.
