The Orlando Magic yet again watched an opponent turn the tables on them Sunday afternoon at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Clippers, who trailed the Magic by 15 points midway through the first half, led by as many as 18 points in the second half and rallied to defeat the Magic, 106-96.
One of the few bright spots in the game was Nikola Vucevic's rebound total. Vucevic nearly tied Dwight Howard for the most rebounds in a quarter with 11 in the opening 12 minutes. Howard set the mark with 12 rebounds in a quarter _ twice _ in 2006.
The Magic were led by Vucevic's 16 points and 24 rebounds, while Aaron Gordon had 17 points and Evan Fournier and D.J. Augustin had 12 points apiece.
The Clippers were led by former Magic forward Tobias Harris and his 28 points. On Polish Heritage Day, former Orlando center Marcin Gortat also had a big game with 10 rebounds and eight points.
Vucevic and Gordon led the first-half charge as Orlando jumped out to a 13-8 lead, prompting a Clippers timeout with 7:22 left in the first quarter. Orlando kept building on the lead from there. Vuceivc and Gordon had 10 points apiece in the first half.
The Magic had the kind of ball movement head coach Steve Clifford likes to see out of the timeout and the break didn't slow them down as they bumped the lead to 18-10 and eventually led by as many as 15 points in the first half.
But much like Thursday at Minnesota, the Magic let the lead slip away as Los Angeles pulled within 47-45 at the intermission.
