The game didn’t get too interesting until the fourth quarter. Ryan Anderson found himself fouling out. Nate Robinson showed why he’s had such a successful career on eight different NBA teams. And Aaron Gordon almost ended Alonzo Gee’s life. As the game neared a close, Nikola Vucevic went on a personal 6-0 run to give the Magic a 99-93 lead.
Robinson brought the score back to even with back-to-back triples—the second coming on a pull-up jumper in transition. Vucevic then proceeded to get fouled with under a minute to go, and he knocked down both free throws to put Orlando up two. The Montenegrin drew another foul but he laid an egg, missing both free throws. With 12 second left, Anthony Davis drew a big foul and he made two free throws of his own to knot the game up at 101-101. Vucevic couldn’t make the game-winning turnaround and this game headed into overtime.
Through four minutes and 11 seconds of overtime action, a total of six points had been scored as the Magic led, 105-103. Mario Hezonja came up with a big offensive rebound and a game of hot potato led to a corner triple from Evan Fournier.
On the next play, Vucevic fouled out with 36 seconds left in the game. Davis converted on both of his free throws and the Magic led, 108-105. Dante Cunningham tried to make his first shot of the game with 12 seconds left but it wouldn’t fall as Channing Frye grabbed the rebound and made both free throws following the quick foul. Robinson made a buzzer-beating floater in the lane, but it wasn’t a five-pointer so the Pelicans fell, 110-107.
Tonight, it was a great night to be an international player on the Magic. Vucevic led the Magic in scoring with 24 points. The big man also corralled 14 rebounds. The other two Europeans, Hezonja and Fournier scored 19 points and 10 points, respectively. Hezonja also made his first four three-point attempts, finishing 4 of 6 on the night from deep. Tobias Harris showed why he was worth $64 million as he stuffed the stat sheet to the tune of 18 points, eight rebounds, two steals and a block. The former-Tennessee Volunteer also showed another skill in this game:
For Davis and the Pelicans, it was anything but smooth sailing. Davis scored 33 points, but it was a far-from-perfect performance. His ability to draw fouls and make free throws was on full display, shooting 17 of 19 from the charity stripe, but he also only made eight of his 24 shot attempts. The former-Kentucky Wildcat also appeared to try to do too much as he forced up some back shots late in the game, but his 16 rebounds and five blocks prove that he is still a force to be reckoned with.
Outside of Davis, the New Orleans’ starting lineup shot 6 of 20 from the field. Cunningham didn’t register a single point in 35 minutes of action. However, the bench was able to provide a boost behind dynamo Robinson and Anderson. Robinson finished with 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting, while Anderson had 11 points on 4 of 8 shooting. Both players took five attempts from deep and both players found nylon on three of their attempts.
The Orlando Magic and New Orleans Pelicans will meet again on Tuesday, November 3, 2015 in New Orleans.