Kings 107, Magic 99: Poor three-point shooting again kills the Magic

It would have been difficult for the Magic to shoot the three worse than they did on Saturday. But they came pretty close.

Just take a look....

MAGIC THREE-POINT SHOOTING

vs. Bucks on Saturday: 10 of 43, 23.3 percent

vs. Kings on Tuesday, 11 of 43, 25.6 percent

The Magic are shooting threes at a record pace, and they’re getting open looks, but the problem is they aren’t making many of them.

One game after shooting a franchise record 43 threes and making just 10 of them in a loss to the Bucks, the Magic matched the record and this time made only 11 of them in a 107-99 loss to the Kings, who have now won four straight and are the league’s early-season surprise team.

The Magic’s poor shooting wasted what was an admirable defensive performance against the up-tempo Kings, who entered with the third quickest pace in the league.

The Magic dug themselves into a hole in an ugly third quarter and were never quite able to recover. A layup by Aaron Gordon cut the Kings’ lead to 70-68 with 7:41 remaining in the third. But it would be the last field goal of the quarter for the Magic, who allowed the Kings to close the quarter on a 15-4 run to take an 85-72 lead into the fourth. The Magic shot just 25 percent from the field in the third, making just one of nine three-point attempts.

But Orlando opened the fourth on a 12-2 run, sparked by a pair of Terrence Ross buckets off feeds from Jerian Grant, to pull within 87-84 with 7:30 to go.

After a three by Ross again cut the lead to three, Jonathon Simmons made a careless in-bounds pass from beneath the Magic basket that was picked off by De’Aaron Fox, who ran down court for the layup plus the foul (missed the free throw) to put the Kings up 96-91. It was the start of an 8-0 run that would seal the game for the Kings.

Gordon led the Magic with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Terrence Ross scored 11 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter.

Nikola Vucevic recorded 15 points and 15 rebounds, for what was a milestone double-double in the Magic history books.

Mo Bamba had seven points, seven rebounds and five blocks on the night.

But the Magic starting backcourt of D.J. Augustin (2 of 7, 2-for-6 on three) and Evan Fournier (3 of 13, 1-for-6 on three) were at the center of a disastrous shooting night where the Magic shot just 39.6 percent from the field.

It didn’t start that way as the Magic built a double-figure lead in the first after a three by Ross opened a 27-16 advantage with 2:29 remaining. The Kings though, behind 51 percent shooting in the first half, stormed back to take a 59-56 lead into the break.

The Kings, who shot 48.8 percent from the field, had six players finish in double figures, led by Buddy Hield, who had 25 points and 11 rebounds. Nemanja Bjelica added 21 points and Fox and Willie Cauley-Stein each had 14 points for the 5-3 Kings.

The Magic, now 2-5, host the Clippers on Friday.