Tobias Harris and Jameer Nelson hooked up for a rare Orlando Magic alley-oop dunk Saturday night in the Magic's loss to the Miami Heat. The play, which occurred at the 7:46 mark of the third quarter, brought Orlando to within eight points of the two-time defending champions. Miami won the game by a 112-98 final.
The play, video of which is embedded in this post, neatly demonstrates how strong Orlando can be when it gets out and runs in transition. Here, Maurice Harkless snares a long rebound of Chris Andersen's missed jumper and quickly shovels the ball to Nelson. The Magic's all-time assist leader streaks up the left side of the floor, but pay close attention to Harris, who starts the play in the painted area. By all rights, Shane Battier ought to defend him, but the Heat fail to put anyone on Nelson, forcing Battier to pick him up in transition. From there, Harris beats Dwyane Wade down the floor, corrals Nelson's lob pass, and throws it through the hoop for two hands.
Harris finished the game with a Magic-high 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor. The assist, meanwhile, was Nelson's 10th of his game-high 11 on the night.
Orlando now has six alley-oop dunks in the 2013/14 season, according to NBA.com/stats. Saturday's marked its first since a January 13th hookup between Nelson and Harkless. The only team with fewer alley-oop dunks than Orlando is the San Antonio Spurs, who have five.