ORLANDO, Fla. _ Orlando's Terrence Ross and Oklahoma City's Dennis Schroder put on a show Wednesday night at Amway Center. Unfortunately for the Magic, Schroder rarely missed a chance to score.
The Magic couldn't keep track of Schroder all night and he lit up the NBA's best scoring defense for 31 points as the Thunder pulled away from the Magic late for a 120-114 win.
Oklahoma City was clicking as a team, hitting 60.5% of its shots. Schroder made 13 of 18 shots, including 3 of 4 3-pointers.
Ross tried to help the Magic keep pace with a third-quarter flurry of his own, but it wasn't enough. Ross finished 26 points on 8-of-16 shooting, including 5-of-11 3-pointers, and Nikola Vucevic had 24 points and 11 rebounds, but the Magic fell to 21-24 this season.
Orlando got a brief scare early in the game when point guard Markelle Fultz left to have his left ring finger X-rayed. After confirming no extensive damage, he returned in the second quarter with taped fingers to support a sprained fourth metatarsal in his left ring finger.
The Magic were having trouble matching the Thunder basket-for-basket until Ross took over in the third quarter.
Ross single-handedly pulled the Magic out of a lull with a third-quarter flurry that saw him score 14 points on 4-of-4 shooting, including 3-of-3 3-pointers. He turned a 15-point Magic deficit into a tied game with 26 seconds left in the third.
Despite another slow start on the offensive end, the Magic were able to keep pace with the Thunder until Oklahoma City pulled away for a 14-point lead early in the second quarter. With Fultz's return from the locker room, the Magic eventually regrouped and went on a run of their own to pull within 46-42 after an Evan Fournier 3-pointer with 3:38 left in the half.
OKC, however, maintained its strong early scoring pace and had an answer every time Orlando rallied.
