 shooting was a season-high against the Magic.''We aren't bad ourselves,'' Paul said. ''I've seen every coverage you can see. We came in yesterday and got a good practice in and tonight we came out with the right energy.'' The Thunder led by as many as 14 points during the first half in which they shot 63.4%.''If we defend like that, it's going to be a long season,'' Magic coach Steve Clifford said. ''We got crushed on the ball, we got crushed on pick and rolls and our interior players at the rim were late all night. With the game on the line, we fouled and fouled and fouled. You have to play with both intensity and purpose and we had neither.'' Nerlens Noel dunked twice during a 14-2 run early in the third quarter to help the Thunder take a 15-point lead, but Ross finished the period with a big scoring burst, rallying Orlando and tying the game at 89-89. Ross converted a four-point play while scoring 12 points in the final 2:09 of the quarter, then opened the fourth with a steal and a layup.After the Thunder went 3:46 without scoring, Aaron Gordon missed two fee throws that could have put the Magic ahead with 3:49 left in the game. Schroder and Paul scored the next 10 points for the Thunder and put the game away.TIP-INSThunder: C Steven Adams, injured in the first quarter of Monday night's game at Houston, did not play after testing his left ankle before the game. ... Noel, who had missed six of the preceding eight games due to an ankle injury, started at center. ... OKC has the NBA's fourth-best record (19-8) since Thanksgiving, behind only Milwaukee, Utah and The L. A. Lakers.Magic: Markelle Fultz had X-rays taken of his left ring finger before returning to the game late in the first half. ... D. J. Augustin missed a fifth straight game with a left knee injury. ... Jonathan Isaac, who missed an 11th game with a left knee injury, is out of his cast but remains out indefinitely. ... The Magic distributed more than $1 million in grants to 16 local nonprofit organizations Wednesday morning in a special ceremony.THE ROAD AHEAD LOOKS GOOD FOR OKC''It's hard to win on the road. I think we lost our first six road games,'' Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. ''I think some of that had to do with the fact these guys hadn't played together. It's really, really hard the first 8-10 games to be this great team. ... I've seen incredible growth from where we were and it was really nothing more than they needed to play with each other.'' UP NEXTThunder: Play at home against Atlanta on Friday night.Magic: Play at home against Boston on Friday night.---More NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Jan 21, 2020Heading into Wednesday's meeting in Orlando, both the Magic and Oklahoma City Thunder are coming off perhaps their most impressive victories of the season.The Thunder rallied from a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit to win at Houston, while the Magic turned a sluggish start into a blowout victory at Charlotte to wrap up their longest road trip of the season.Oklahoma City has made a habit of coming back from big deficits this season.The Thunder trailed Monday's game by 17 at one point, making the win against the Rockets the fourth time this season they have won despite trailing by 17 or more points at any point."We showed it to everybody, to ourselves first, since the beginning of the season," forward Danilo Gallinari said of Oklahoma City's propensity for comebacks. "That's what we do." In Orlando's 106-83 win over the Hornets on Monday, Terrence Ross hit five first-half 3-pointers to spur the victory after the Magic managed just 19 first-quarter points."That was one of our best wins because of our approach," Magic coach Steve Clifford said. "I thought our attitude was great and it set the whole thing up." Ross has hit multiple 3-pointers in four consecutive games, averaging 15 points per game during that stretch."When he gets going, he doesn't need much room," Clifford said. "When he gets that look in his eye ... let's hope he has it again on Wednesday." The Magic haven't played at home since Jan. 8.Orlando was 3-3 on the road trip that included both a win over the Western Conference-leading Los Angeles Lakers and a loss at cellar-dwelling Golden State."Now that you look back at this road trip, it's not bad. ... We could have had a great trip, but 3-3, we'll take it," guard Evan Fournier told the Orlando Sentinel. "It was really just being mentally prepared and just do your job." The Thunder have been limited on the interior recently and could be short-handed there yet again.Starting center Steven Adams was knocked out of Monday's win over Houston less than two minutes into the game when he sprained his left ankle getting tied up under the basket with Rockets center Clint Capela.Oklahoma City was also without Adams' backup, Nerlens Noel, for the seventh time in nine games due to left ankle soreness of his own. Starting forward Terrance Ferguson was out for personal reasons.Orlando's injuries are much more long-term.Forwards Jonathan Isaac and Al-Farouq Aminu could miss the rest of the season and point guard D. J. Augustin has missed the last four games and might be sidelined until mid-February. All are dealing with knee injuries.The game is the second and final meeting of the season between the teams.Oklahoma City won the first meeting, 102-94, at home on Nov. 5 in a game where Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander combined for 44 points.--Field Level Media
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