Hezonja sparks Magic in 110-107 overtime victory against Pelicans

In front of a mostly empty Amway Center, the Orlando Magic tipped it up in their penultimate preseason game with the New Orleans Pelicans. A second straight overtime home preseason game, and another Magic win, with the Magic eeking out a 110-107 victory against the Pelicans.

Early on, the Magic were the much more active team, attacking the Pelicans on every possession. Victor Oladipo took advantage of a mismatch defensively, getting by Dante Cunningham and to the rim at will. The Magic's offense was free flowing, with strong cuts getting the Pelicans out of position defensively, allowing easy shots on many of their trips down the floor. The hosts finished the quarter with seven assists on 10 made field goals, despite missing starting point guard Elfrid Payton with a hamstring injury. Tobias Harris led the way for the Magic with seven, with Anthony Davis' eight leading all scorers as the Magic led 29-21 after one period of action.

After a strong first quarter, things began crumbling for the Magic. With their bench in for a good portion of the quarter, they were unable to get any consistent production offensively, turning the ball over on numerous possessions, leading to easy buckets for the visiting Pelicans. New Orleans feasted on the Magic's mistakes defensively, getting to the line 20 times in the quarter, making 16 of them. Additionally, the Pelicans shot a blistering 10-of-17, compared to the Magic's woeful 7-of-19 from the field, a number that would allow the Pelicans to storm back and a take a 58-48 lead at the half. Davis led all scorers with 20 points and five rebounds at the half, with Harris' 11 leading the Magic at the half.

Out of the halftime break, the Magic's starters showed the solid energy level that helped them jump out in the first quarter. Orlando was able to wreck havoc in the Pelicans passing lanes, forcing them into eight turnovers in the quarter, one more than they had the entire first half. The Magic's defense was able to hold the Pelicans to 3-of-14 shooting, but unable to stop sending them to the line 14 more times in the quarter.

Down heading into the fourth, the Magic's offense began coming to life. Behind hot shooting from beyond the arc from Mario Hezonja and Channing Frye, the Magic took the lead, only to see the Pelicans come back and tie it up at 93. However, the Magic answered with a 6-to-0 run to take control of the game late. A pair of three-pointers from Nate Robinson tied the game up with 46 seconds remaining.

After Robinson's pair of three's, the Magic were able to get the ball in to Nikola Vucevic, who was subsequently fouled. Vucevic, who had a strong game overall, knocked down the pair to give the Magic a lead with just over 43 seconds remaining. Following a turnover by Robinson, Vucevic was once again fouled, this time going up for a dunk attempt. Vucevic missed the pair, and proceeded to foul Davis on the next trip down, sending him to the line with a chance to tie it up. Davis made the pair, tying the game up with 12 seconds remaining. Out of the timeout, Vucevic missed a fadeaway as time expired, sending it into overtime.

Kicking off the extra period, Robinson got the Pelicans out to a quick lead. After a few misses from both sides, Vucevic tied it back up with a nifty lefty layup around Davis' outstretched arm. Another layup from Vucevic, and a three from Evan Fournier put the Magic up five with 49 seconds left. After Davis made a pair of free throws, Channing Frye turned the ball over, giving the Pelicans another life. Following a Pelicans timeout, Dante Cunningham missed a runner, locking up the Magic's win.

Six Magic men finished in double figures, led by Vucevic's 24 points and 14 rebounds. Mario Hezonja found his shooting stroke, finishing with 19, with Harris capping off his night with 18. Fournier added 11, while Victor Oladipo finished with 10 points, six rebounds and five assists. Channing Frye rounded out the group, finishing with 10.

Davis led all scorers, finishing with a monster 33 point, 16 rebound performance. Robinson added 16, with Eric Gordon finishing with 14. Jrue Holliday rounded out the group, finishing with 12.