ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Things were going so well for Los Angeles Clippers guard Lou Williams on Friday night that even when one of his shots missed, he ended up getting credit for a basket.
Williams scored 23 of his game-high 28 points in the second half in leading the Clippers to a 120-95 rout of the Orlando Magic.
It was the Clippers' 10th straight win over the Magic.
Williams hit all five 3-point attempts in the second half, including one that clearly bounced far off the rim. But he got credit anyway when referee Sean Corbin called goaltending on Magic rookie Mo Bamba.
"Lou got it going in the third and fourth quarter and that changed the game," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. "He is just an amazing, amazing shooter and he shoots from all angles. It used to be he could only go left and now he goes right. He is a professional scorer and you see it every time he plays."
Tobias Harris had 21 points and Danilo Gallinari 13 for Los Angeles, which led by 15 going into the fourth period and quickly pushed it to 25 after Williams hit three straight 3s to make it 106-81 with 6:57 left.
Boban Marjanovic made his first start for the Clippers and finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Nikola Vucevic led Orlando with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Evan Fournier scored 19 and D.J. Augustin had 13 points for the Magic, who have lost four straight.
Orlando cut an 18-point deficit to nine on three occasions in the third quarter, but never could sustain a rally. Fournier's driving layup made it 79-70 with 1:35 left in the quarter, but Milos Teodosic and Williams hit back-to-back 3-pointers and the Clippers took an 87-72 lead into the final period.
"Difficult, difficult night," Magic coach Steve Clifford said. "Effort level, body language, purpose of play . that was not even close to being acceptable, not for a professional basketball team. This is really disappointing."
ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT
The Magic are coming off six straight losing seasons and appear headed in that direction after a 2-6 start this year. Clifford says his team needs to start its rebound with a change of attitude.
"We have the wrong, wrong attitude," Clifford said after his team was routed by the Clippers. "There have been some tough times here and we have some guys who have been through that, but we have to have great attitude, great fight and great readiness and we had none of that tonight. Maybe this is going to be harder to do than I thought."
GREAT FIRST IMPRESSION
The Los Angeles Clippers invited Magic rookie Mo Bamba in for a workout before last summer's NBA Draft and he made quite an impression on coach Doc Rivers. Bamba brought a CD of himself that contained highlights of his best offensive moves to show how far his game had progressed.
"He wanted us to see all that and it was impressive," Rivers said. "Steve Ballmer (Clippers owner) was in the room and I think it was the most impressive interview we ever had in the times I've done it. He's long, he already has great touch, he shoots the ball pretty well. He's going to be a good player."
The Magic grabbed Bamba with the sixth pick in the first round. The Clippers picked 11th and selected point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
TIP-INS
Clippers: C Marcin Gortat had 186 straight starts in his NBA career, including the first eight games this season, before taking a DNP-CD against Orlando. ... Montrezl Harrell had a double-double, 10 points, 12 rebounds, off the bench.
Magic: PF Jonathan Isaac left the game in the second quarter with a sprained right ankle. He did not return. ... Orlando shot a team-record 43 3-point attempts in each of its last two games, but took only 17 against the Clippers. ... Orlando is 0-6 this season when trailing at halftime.
UP NEXT:
Clippers: Head to Minnesota on Monday for the fourth game of a five-game road trip.
Magic: At San Antonio on Sunday.
