Magic rally in 4th quarter, down Nets 100-93
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) Nik Vucevic had 20 points and nine rebounds, and the Orlando Magic rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Brooklyn Nets 100-93 on Wednesday night.
Evan Fournier added 17 points and five assists for Orlando, which has won seven of nine. Vucevic has scored 20 or more points in seven straight games.
The Magic trailed for most of the second half, but used a 9-0 run late in the third quarter to cut into what had been a double-digit deficit. Then they outscored the Nets 32-20 in the final period.
Brooklyn led by as many as 13 but fell part down the stretch, going 3 for 20 from the 3-point line.
Brook Lopez led the Nets with 24 point and 15 rebounds. Bojan Bogdanovic added 20 points.
Trailing 93-90, Orlando scored on back-to-back layups by Vucevic and Tobias Harris to take a 94-93 lead with 45 seconds to play.
The Nets struggled to find an open shot on their ensuing trip and Jarret Jack missed a rushed 20-footer off the front of the rim as the shot clock wound down.
Victor Oladipo then was fouled and connected on two free throws on the other end.
Coming out of a timeout Brooklyn never got the ball in bounds, turning it over on an offensive foul call on Lopez for a push off on Harris.
Orlando's Elfrid Payton, who has been hampered by a sprained right ankle, started at point guard, but he played just five minutes in the first half. Shabazz Napier started the second half and Payton sat out the remainder of the game.
Without their primary ballhandler facilitating offense in the half court, the Magic struggled at times to find a rhythm on offense.
The Nets were the more energetic team in the first half, and used a 19-7 surge in the second quarter to build as much as a 13-point lead.
Orlando went through several different lineups trying to find some cohesion, with 12 of the 13 active players on the roster seeing action.
TIP-INS
Nets: Scored 20 points off 17 Magic turnovers. ... Brooklyn was outrebounded 50-37. ... The Nets had six steals in the first half.
Magic: Orlando's 13-5 record since Nov. 25 is the best in the Eastern Conference. ... The Magic improved to 16-7 this season when scoring 100 or more points.
UP NEXT
Nets: Finish their three-game road trip at Boston on Saturday.
Magic: Begin a three-game road trip at Washington on Friday.