|
 Magic rookie Victor Oladipo scored 19 points, 14 in the second half, as Orlando won back-to-back games for the first time since Dec. 19, 2012. Andrew Nicholson added 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Magic, who beat New Orleans 110-90 at home last Friday night.
Brook Lopez led the Nets with 21 points. Paul Pierce was the only other Net to score in double figures with 16 points and he grabbed seven rebounds. The Nets (1-2) shot 38.2 percent for the game.
The Magic (2-2) used a 17-4 run early in the third quarter to break open a close game. They led by 15 points after three quarters, then Oladipo scored six straight points at the start of the fourth.
His last basket was a steal off Nets' All-Star guard Deron Williams and a breakaway dunk that put Orlando up 82-61 with 10:11 left. The Nets never got closer than 16 points after that.
Kidd was suspended two regular-season games by the NBA after pleading guilty in a drunken driving case. His presence didn't do much to inspire the Nets, who kept it close for a half, but got run out of the building by a more aggressive and energetic Magic team the second half.
Orlando outscored New Jersey 66-48 over the last two periods. The Magic's reserves outscored Brooklyn's 45-30.
Neither team was able to sustain momentum for more than a few possessions in the first half.
The Magic started the game with a 5-0 run and that was the biggest lead of the first half for either team. There were five ties and 12 lead changes in the first 24 minutes that ended with Orlando squeezing out a 41-28 lead.
Kidd made good on his pregame promise to closely monitor playing time, pulling all five starters by the 2-minute mark of the first period. Pierce was the only starter to play more than 27 minutes in the game.
[to top of second column] |
The revolving door made it difficult to get into a flow offensively, but Brooklyn still managed a 22-22 standoff with scoring contributions from seven of the 10 who played.
Vucevic hit a hot streak late in the second quarter, scoring 10 straight Magic points. The center was the only Orlando player in double figures at halftime with 13 points and seven rebounds.
Lopez was the only Net to hit double figures, getting 10 first-half points, including a run of eight straight that coincided with Vucevic's 10 straight.
Maurice Harkless started the second half with consecutive 3-pointers to propel Orlando on a 17-4 run that gave it a 58-42 lead with 7:10 left in the third quarter.
Shaun Livingston replaced starting point guard Deron Williams and the Nets temporarily came to life, but couldn't sustain it. A dunk by Livingston, a 17-foot jumper from Joe Johnson, his first basket of the game, and an end-to-end drive and dunk by Pierce cut the deficit to 61-52, but the run ended there.
Oladipo scored eight straight Magic points and handed a no-look assist to Vucevic for a dunk that pushed Orlando's lead back to 15 and the Magic finished the quarter with a 74-59 lead.
Oladipo, the No. 2 pick in the NBA draft, scored six straight points early in the final quarter, capped by a steal of Williams and a dunk that made it 82-61 with just over 10 minutes left. Brooklyn never got closer than 17 points the rest of the game.
NOTES: The Nets swept the Magic last season, winning the four games by an average of 19.8 points. ... The starting five for Brooklyn will make a combined $81 million this season. Orlando's starters will make a combined $22 million.
[Associated
Press]
Copyright 2013 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
|
