Magic withstand late rally to beat Blazers 102-94
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Tobias Harris and Nik Vucevic each scored 25 points to propel the Orlando Magic to a 102-94 win over Portland.
Elfrid Payton added 19 points and Victor Oladipo scored 15 points and had six assists for the Magic, who won their third straight game.
CJ McCollum led Portland with 29 points. Damian Lillard added 17 points and 10 assists, and Al-Farouq Aminu had 16 for the Trail Blazers.
Orlando started the fourth quarter with a 74-68 lead and forced the Trail Blazers into four turnovers and two missed shots in the first three minutes. Oladipo scored five straight and Evan Fournier added a driving layup to push the Magic lead to 81-68 with 9:31 to play.
Portland failed to close the gap until it hit four straight 3-pointers to cut the deficit to 100-94 on Aminu's 3 with 1:01 to play. However, McCollum missed another 3-pointer on the next possession and the Magic were able to hang on from there.
The Magic went on a 14-2 run early in the third quarter to push a one-point halftime lead into a 67-55 advantage. Orlando limited Portland to 1-of-10 shooting during the run and got dunks from Harris and Vucevic to wake up a quiet crowd.
Portland, which had been scoring from the perimeter all game, finally got one to fall in close when backup center Meyers Leonard just beat the shot clock with a fallaway 12-footer. The Trail Blazers cut the deficit to 74-68 by the end of the quarter, but the offensive struggles continued.
Both teams came out firing, each hitting over 60 percent from the field in the first 10 minutes of the game, but the neither side could sustain it.
Portland's defense pushed Orlando far out on the perimeter and the Magic ball handlers couldn't penetrate. Harris had 16 points and Vucevic 15, but their teammates combined for just 7 of 24 (29.1 percent) shooting.
Portland didn't bother trying to get inside at all. The Blazers scored 40 of their 48 points from the perimeter with McCollum getting 13 and Lillard and Crabbe nine each.
A 9-2 run by the Magic in the final two minutes gave them a 49-48 halftime lead.
TIP-INS
Trailblazers: Portland took only 11 shots and scored just eight points in the paint in the first half. . PG Damian Lilliard had missed 21 straight 3-pointers in his first 3 visits to Orlando before finally draining a 3 with 4:33 left in the third period. He finished the game 2 for 6 from behind the arc. . Portland's bench was just 8 for 23 in the game.
Magic: Harris had 12 rebounds and Vucevic 11 as Orlando outrebounded Portland 48-42. . Orlando was 0 for 8 on 3-pointers in the first half and 2 for 15 in the game. . First-round pick Mario Hezonja, who hit 10 of 15 shots and scored 28 points playing the backup PG role the last three games, sat the bench the entire game.
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: play at Miami Sunday.
Magic: host Atlanta Sunday.