ORLANDO, Fla. _ The Orlando Magic beat the Atlanta Hawks 110-106 in overtime Wednesday night, but it was a potentially costly victory.
Evan Fournier hurt his right ankle when he scored on a floater on the first possession of overtime and his right foot landed on one of teammate Nikola Vucevic's heels. The basket put Orlando ahead 98-96, but Fournier had to be helped to the Magic's locker room and didn't return to the game.
Fournier's absence seemed to unnerve the Magic temporarily. They trailed 101-100 when Elfrid Payton intercepted a pass by DeAndre' Bembry. Payton went coast-to-coast and scored on a dunk with 1:36 left in the extra period.
The Magic never trailed again.
On Atlanta's ensuing possession, Bembry was whistled for offensive goaltending as he attempted to tip in a teammate's miss.
The Magic made the Hawks pay. Vucevic tipped in a miss by Jonathon Simmons, extending the lead to three points.
Fournier led all scorers with 27 points, but Orlando's victory wouldn't have been possible without D.J. Augustin.
The Magic trailed 96-93 with 14.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter as they inbounded the ball. Simmons dribbled, passed to Vucevic and Vucevic then hurled the ball to Augustin at the top of the arc.
Augustin elevated, snapped his right wrist and drained the 3-pointer to tie the score with 6.2 seconds to go.
On the ensuing possession, the Hawks couldn't get off a shot before the buzzer, sending the game into overtime.
The Magic led 93-92 late in regulation when Payton made a bad error. With the Magic already in the penalty, he fouled Dennis Schroder about 40 feet from the hoop with 27.3 seconds to go. Schroder responded by making both free throws to put Atlanta ahead, 94-93.
Magic coach Frank Vogel called a timeout, but on the ensuing possession, the Magic couldn't get anything going. Fournier over-penetrated and threw a pass toward the perimeter that was intercepted by Kent Bazemore. Bazemore was fouled with 14.7 seconds remaining and made both of his shots, extending the Hawks' lead to 96-93.
Vogel called another timeout, setting the stage for Augustin's game-tying shot with 6.2 seconds to go.
The Magic (11-15) were in trouble against the Hawks (5-19) early in the fourth quarter.
The Hawks took an 86-77 lead when rookie Tyler Cavanaugh scored on a three-point play with 10:12 remaining in the period.
From Nov. 11 through Monday, the Magic played a brutally tough schedule and posted a 2-11 record in 13 games.
The game against the Hawks started an easier portion of the schedule.
The Hawks entered the day with the NBA's second-worst record, and they were missing big men John Collins, Dewayne Dedmon and Mike Muscala due to injuries.
Orlando players knew they had to take advantage of their game against the rebuilding, undermanned Hawks.
The Magic's starters opened the game well and built a 31-23 lead during the first quarter.
But the Magic opened the second quarter with a lineup of Augustin, Shelvin Mack, Wes Iwundu, Arron Afflalo and Bismack Biyombo _ a quintet with obvious deficiencies on offense.
By the time Vogel made his first substitution of the period, inserting Simmons for Mack with 7:46 left, the Hawks had cut their deficit to 35-31.
Atlanta scored four more points before Vogel put the rest of the starters back in with 6:41 to go in the quarter.
Over the final 6 minutes, 41 seconds of the period, the Magic's starters were outscored 18-9 and turned the ball over seven times.
Turnovers weren't the Magic's only problem.
In the second quarter, the Magic didn't score a single point in the paint. They attempted only four shots in the lane and missed them all. The Magic's reluctance to drive into the lane was mystifying because the Hawks have no healthy rim protectors.
The Hawks led 52-44 at halftime.
"We're going to have to play harder than them," Payton said before tipoff. "They play hard, despite their record. They're a good offensive team, despite their record. So we're going to have to match their intensity and play with a lot of energy."
Payton's words were prophetic.
The Magic got the win, but it was a costly win.
