ORLANDO, Fla. _ During the final weeks of the Orlando Magic's season, Frank Vogel wants to experiment with an intriguing lineup configuration _ a configuration that might solve some of the team's deeply rooted problems on defense.
Vogel wants to play 6-foot-9 forward Aaron Gordon and 6-foot-10 forward Jonathan Isaac simultaneously. Gordon and Isaac are the Magic's top two defenders, capable of switching onto most opponents, even point guards. The prospect of Gordon and Isaac confounding opposing offenses is so appealing that Vogel almost salivates.
On Tuesday night, the Isaac-Gordon duo played well together but not well enough to defeat the Toronto Raptors.
Fueled by point guard Kyle Lowry, the Raptors overcame an eight-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter and beat the Magic 93-86 at Amway Center.
Lowry finished with a game-high 25 points, five rebounds and eight assists.
Gordon had missed Orlando's previous five games while he worked through the NBA's concussion protocol. On Tuesday, he showed just a little bit of rust as he tallied 16 points on 7-of-15 shooting, collected six rebounds and dished out three assists.
Isaac added 10 points, five rebounds, five steals and two blocks.
Orlando led 76-68 at the start of the fourth quarter, but it missed its first nine shot attempts of the period, allowing Toronto to close the gap to 78-76.
When the Magic came out of a timeout, D.J. Augustin was whistled for an offensive foul for pushing off on Lowry, prompting Vogel to fume at the referees. On the Raptors' ensuing possession, Lowry threw a lob to Lucas Nogueira, and Nogueira dunked, tying the score.
After Augustin missed a 3-pointer on the Magic's next trip down the floor, Lowry drained a 3-pointer, giving Toronto an 81-78 lead. Pascal Siakam soon followed with another 3 with 4:53 to play, extending the Raptors' decisive run to 16-2 to begin the quarter.
Orlando opened the quarter by missing 14 of its first 15 shot attempts.
Limited by injuries throughout the season, Gordon and Isaac had only played a total 67 minutes together before Tuesday. Although that was too small a sample size to draw any definitive conclusions, the initial results intrigued Vogel.
According to the NBA's statistical database, the Magic gave up 89.9 points per 100 possessions when Gordon and Isaac played simultaneously. That represents a massive improvement over how the Magic typically fare. Through Monday, the team had allowed 108.6 points per 100 possessions, the 24th highest average in the NBA this season.
Generating offense is the primary concern associated with Gordon and Isaac playing together, especially since Isaac is raw on that end and because Gordon's shooting has fallen off since his superb start to the season.
But there's reason to hope the Magic (21-50) would generate so many stops and turnovers that they would be able to sprint forward in transition and score easy buckets.
The opening to Tuesday's game provided some hope. Orlando scored four of its first five baskets on dunks, with two of them coming on fast breaks.
Isaac also sank a pair of 3-pointers, including one as he absorbed a foul by Serge Ibaka.
Injuries allowed Vogel to experiment. Evan Fournier missed his sixth consecutive game because of a sprained ligament in his left knee, and Jonathon Simmons sat out because he has a right wrist contusion.
The Raptors (53-18), who lead the Eastern Conference standings, weren't at full strength, either. All-Star starter DeMar DeRozan didn't play because of a left thigh bruise, while backup point guard Fred VanVleet didn't play because of a bruised right hand.
It turns out Toronto didn't need DeRozan or VanVleet.
