Magic lose to Raptors 106-103 in OT in London

By Joshua Robbins
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Updated: January 15, 2016

After the final buzzer sounded and a teammate’s potential game-tying heave from beyond halfcourt clanged off the back iron, Victor Oladipo had to release some pent-up emotion.

He turned to a referee and complained about a non-call that, in his eyes, should have been made seconds earlier. As Oladipo walked off the floor, a grimace crossed his face, and when teammate Dewayne Dedmon attempted to console him with a high five, all Oladipo could do was half-heartedly slap Dedmon’s hand.

Oladipo — and his Orlando Magic teammates and coaches — had every reason to feel exasperated, but not just because of the non-call. In a game that many of them pegged as a potential turning point to their season, they had produced a significant fourth-quarter comeback to force overtime but lost to the Toronto Raptors 106-103 in front of an announced sellout crowd of 18,689 at The O2.

This hurt.

“It’s a tough loss, man,” Oladipo said. “It really sucks, honestly. We wanted to win that game. We all really wanted to win that game.”

The Magic players might spend their nearly 10-hour flight back to the States pondering a long list of excruciating “what ifs?”
London game interview: Scott Skiles

What if a clock malfunction prior to the final possession in regulation hadn’t occurred, forcing them to design another play before they tried to win the game outright?

What if a referee indeed had called a foul on Oladipo’s drive with almost 5.0 seconds remaining in overtime?

And, finally, the most important question of all: Why did they allow 61 first-half points when they can perform much better on defense, as they did throughout the second half?

“We played better in the second half than we’ve been playing,” coach Scott Skiles said. “But there’s a reason there are wins and losses. One goes on the left. One goes on the right. This one goes on the right tonight. It’s a loss. One of the main things we’re trying to convince our guys of is this is a win-or-lose league. This is a serious business.”
London game interview: Jason Smith

The Magic produced the most fight they’ve shown so far this new year — recovering from an awful stretch late in the first quarter and an 11-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter.

Yet, as Skiles said, coming close to a win counts for nothing in professional sports. Orlando has lost six of its last seven games and has fallen to 20-19, jeopardizing a promising start to its season.

When they look back on their trip to London, they’ll remember a camaraderie-building team dinner in a centuries-old building Tuesday night, a glimpse of Tower Bridge on Wednesday morning and being able to share the cross-Atlantic journey with family members.

Perhaps most of all, though, they’ll remember missed opportunities.

After a solid start, they unraveled defensively in the first half.

The Raptors ended the first quarter by scoring 16 consecutive points and completed the first half with 61 points. Magic defenders simply didn’t do a good enough job of staying in front of their man and didn’t do a good enough job avoiding fouls.

“We didn’t look like we were ready,” center Nik Vucevic said. “We just didn’t defend the way we know how to. We weren’t in the right positions.”

Orlando had to play catch-up the rest of the night.

And the Magic did catch up eventually.

Down 88-77 with 7:34 to go, they rallied, tying the score 96-96 on a jumper by Oladipo with 32.9 seconds left.

After the Raptors’ Kyle Lowry missed a long jumper, Oladipo attempted a 3-pointer when he could have opted for an easier shot. He missed. But when the ball bounced off a Toronto player and went out of bounds with 0.7 seconds left, the Magic had one more chance.

Skiles called a timeout and drew up a play.

With Harris preparing to inbound the ball on the baseline, the game clock accidentally started, and the buzzer sounded. It was a mistake by the game-night crew — the same crew that normally works games at Orlando’s Amway Center.

Since the Raptors (25-15) got a peek at the play the Magic wanted to run, the Magic had to draw up something else. The new concoction ended with Jason Smith missing a fadeaway jumper from 17 feet as time expired.

“We didn’t want that shot,” Smith said. “We wanted a better shot. We had a great play designed [initially]. That happens sometimes, though. Sometimes the clock goes before it’s supposed to.”

The overtime started badly, with the Magic falling behind by five points.

Still, the Magic nearly caught up again.

Oladipo scored his game-high 25th, 26th and 27th points of the game on a 3-pointer that cut Toronto’s lead to 105-103 with 37.9 seconds left in the extra period.

After Lowry missed a jumper, the Magic had a chance to tie the score.

But Lowry stripped the ball from while Oladipo drove toward the hoop.

Oladipo wanted a foul on the play.

None arrived.

“You’re going to have to watch the film,” Oladipo said afterward. “But at the end of the day, I can’t rely on the refs in that situation. I’ve just got to make a better play.”

A short while later, the game ended when Vucevic’s toss from beyond halfcourt ricocheted off the rim.

The Magic played on a different continent Thursday, but the end result remained painfully similar to the other games they’ve played this calendar year in North America.

It was another loss.