Elfrid Payton's second straight triple-double leads Magic past Blazers, 111-104

Coming off an 0-2 Texas two step, the Orlando Magic returned home to host a familiar face, as Arron Affllao and the Portland Trail Blazers made their yearly stop in Orlando. Behind another triple-double from Elfrid Payton, the Magic rallied in the fourth for a 111-104 victory.

Unlike their loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, the Magic were able to get off to a quick start against the Blazers. Behind Elfrid Payton, the Magic jumped out to a 11-4 lead before the visitors began to finally settle in. Despite the slow start, Portland was able to slowly whittle at the Magic lead, cutting it down two as few as two late in the quarter. A Ben Gordon buzzer beating three gave the Magic a six point lead after 12 minutes. Against one of the better teams defending the paint, the Magic had success early, scoring 14 points to Portland's six. Nikola Vucevic led all scores with eight, with Nicolas Batum leading the Blazers with six.

After a strong start to the game, the Magic began to push their lead back up to around double digits in the second quarter. The bench, led by Gordon and Andrew Nicholson, gave the Magic a great lift, combining for 21 first half points, with 14 coming from Gordon and Nicholson. With the starters back in the game, Payton picked up where he left off on Wednesday, controlling the game in almost every aspect. Coming off his first career triple-double, the rookie point guard made all seven of his shots from the field to lead the host Magic with 14 points, six assists, four rebounds and four steals at the half. After a quiet first quarter, All-Star point guard Damian Lillard scored 14 in the second, pushing his total to a game high 16 at the half. Despite Lillard's strong half, Portland still trailed by two at the half, 58-56.

Out of halftime, LaMarcus Aldridge began to take over the game for Portland. The four-time All-Star scoed 18 of the Blazers 25 in the quarter, helping Portland to their first lead of the contest. The Magic struggled to get much going on the offensive end, shooting 8-of-24 in the quarter, including 1-of-4 from deep. Payton continued his stellar play, weaving his way through Portland's defense, pushing his totals for the game up to 16 points, seven assists and seven rebounds. After struggling with his shot in the first half, Victor Oladipo began to find a bit of a groove, scoring nine in the quarter. Aldridge's 26 led the way for Portland, with Lillard's 16 following behind.

Down by six heading into the fourth quarter, the Magic began to mount a charge. In the first half of the final quarter, the hosts went on a 15-to-5 run to retake the lead by four. Behind gritty play from Payton, and big buckets from Vucevic and Channing Frye, the Magic rallied to take home a big win against the Blazers.

Five Magic men finished in double-figures, led by Payton's 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, his second straight triple-double. Oladipo finished with a team high tying 22, with Vucevic adding 22 of his own. Gordon added 11 off the bench, with Frye finishing the night with 10.

Four Blazers finished in double figures, led by Aldridge's game high 31. Lillard finished with 18, with Robin Lopez adding 10. C.J. McCollum added 13 off the bench for the visitors.