Still looking for their first win of the New Year, the Orlando Magic traveled to Brooklyn to take on the Nets on the front end of a back-to-back prior to heading out ton London for a week. Despite cooling off after a hot shooting first quarter, the Magic were able to end their losing streak, knocking off the Nets 83-77.
Early on the Magic's offense moved the ball, finding open, high quality shots on many of their possessions. Their strong play on the offensive end, coupled with an improved energy level on the defensive end helped aid them to an early 13 point lead. In the opening quarter, the visitors shot 10-of-22 -- including 10-of-16 to start the quarter -- notching assists on seven of those makes. Their strong play gave the Magic what appeared to be a strong hold of the game early, leading 26-17 after one.
The second quarter was nightmare like for the Magic, who couldn't throw a pebble in the ocean. Their ball movement stopped, with players continually taking matters into their own hands to get shots. While they were still able to play good enough defense to keep themselves in it, they were unable to hold back the hard charging Nets, falling behind at the halftime break, 38-37. In the quarter, the Magic shot a dreadful 4-of-15, with six turnovers, leading to eight points for the hard charging Nets.
Out of halftime the Magic continued to struggle on the offensive end early on. Their struggles allowed the Nets to take their lead and push it out to as many as five. The Magic answered, slowly settling down, thanks to strong play from Nikola Vucevic. The man in the middle scored 13 of Orlando's 23 third quarter points, adding six rebounds to finish off his monster quarter. Despite Vucevic's strong play, the Magic still found themselves behind, trailing 62-60 after two late three-pointers from Brooklyn.
With a chance to kick their longest losing streak of the season to the curb, the Magic were in prime position to push the Nets to the brink. Through the first half of the quarter, things were looking good for the Magic, who started the quarter on a 13-6 run to take a five point lead. The Magic continued to shoot the three ball well, knocking down four three balls in their run to take control of the game.
Four Magic players finished in double figures, led by Vucevic's 20-point, 10-rebound double-double. Victor Oladipo knocked down a career-high six three-pointers en route to 20 points of his own. Aaron Gordon tied his career-high with two three's, finishing with 14 points off the bench. Evan Fournier rounded out the group, finishing with 13 points. Tobias Harris flirted with his first career triple-double, finishing with nine points, 12 rebounds and a career-high seven assists.
Brook Lopez did the majority of the damage for the Nets, finishing the night with 17 points. Joe Johnson finished the night with 13, while Thaddeus Young added 11.
