National Basketball Association
Orlando 123, Memphis 119
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, March 22, 2019
Where: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Officials:
#29 Mark Lindsay, #43 Matt Myers, #5 Kane Fitzgerald
Attendance:
18025
By Field Level Media
Evan Fournier gave Orlando its first lead of the game with 4:05 to go in overtime, then gave the Magic the upper hand for good with another hoop with 1:14 remaining Friday night, giving the Eastern Conference postseason hopeful a much needed, 123-119 victory over the visiting Memphis Grizzlies.
The come-from-behind win allowed Orlando to stay within arm's length of the seventh and eighth playoff positions in the East, spots currently held by Brooklyn and Miami.
Fournier's last hoop came after Jonas Valanciunas had put Memphis up 118-117 with 1:25 to go, creating the sixth lead change of the overtime session.
After Fournier put Orlando back on top, Nikola Vucevic made it a three-point game with a layup with 35.5 seconds left.
The Magic then caught a break when the Grizzlies' Tyler Dorsey, with a chance to tie the game, missed two of three free throws. Orlando was able to ice the win with two subsequent free throws from Fournier.
Fournier finished with 27 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Magic, who won their fourth in a row.
Orlando's Terrence Ross led all scorers with 31 points, while Vucevic added 25, D.J. Augustin 20 and Jonathan Isaac 11.
Memphis lost despite a 23-point, 24-rebound performance by Valanciunas. It was his first 20-20 game as well as a career-best rebounding effort.
Teammate Dorsey also recorded career-bests in points with 29 and assists with nine.
Justin Holiday chipped in with 22 points, Chandler Parsons 17 and Delon Wright 12 for Memphis, which lost its fourth straight on the road.
The Orlando rally began after they had fallen behind by as many as 17 points in the third quarter, which ended with Memphis up 95-81.
Ross got the Magic headed in the right direction with a pair of 3-pointers to open the scoring in the fourth quarter. A short time later, he made three free throws and added a third 3-pointer, getting Orlando within 99-97 with still 6:02 to go.
Orlando drew even for first time since 44-all when Augustin dropped in a layup at the 4:46 mark to tie the game at 104.
A 3-pointer by Holiday appeared to give the Grizzlies control at 110-106 with 1:21 to go, but Vucevic and Fournier scored the last two hoops of regulation, the latter coming with just 17.7 seconds left to produce a 110-all tie.
Both teams had one crack at a win in the final seconds of regulation, but Dorsey misfired from 22 feet for Memphis before Fournier couldn't connect on a buzzer-beater for Orlando.
Memphis outshot Orlando in the game 50.5 percent to 47.3.
The Grizzlies stunned the Magic with a 13-1 start, with Dorsey and Valanciunas each providing two- and 3-point hoops.
Orlando managed to scrap back into a 44-all tie at the 6:50 mark of the second quarter, but never went ahead.
Memphis rebounded to go up 64-58 at halftime, then extended to 90-73 with a 12-2 burst triggered by a four-point play from Holiday.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Memphis |
|
Orlando |
|
Tyler Dorsey 29 |
Scoring |
Terrence Ross 31 |
|
Tyler Dorsey 9 |
Assists |
D.J. Augustin 8 |
|
Jonas Valanciunas 24 |
Rebounds |
Evan Fournier 8 |
|
Chandler Parsons 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Evan Fournier 6 |
|
Ivan Rabb 2 |
Steals |
Nikola Vucevic 2 |
|
Jonas Valanciunas 4 |
Blocks |
Nikola Vucevic 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Memphis
|
119 |
50.5 |
15-38 |
10-21 |
28 |
52 |
6 |
5 |
13 |
| Orlando
|
123 |
47.3 |
14-39 |
21-27 |
30 |
44 |
5 |
6 |
9 |
Upcoming Games
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Orlando will play their next game at home against Philadelphia. The Magic have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .462 after a loss.
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Memphis will play their next game at home against Minnesota. The Grizzlies have a W/L % of .448 after a win and .372 after a loss.
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