ORLANDO, Fla. _ The Orlando Magic won Wednesday night, but the victory ought to have a 6-foot-10 asterisk attached to it.
The Magic beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 89-82.
But the Pelicans took the Amway Center court without one of the NBA's best players, forward Anthony Davis, who sat out because of a quadriceps contusion. Anytime the Pelicans play without Davis, the opponent ought to win, especially if the opponent is playing at home. Plus, the Pelicans also were missing guards Jrue Holiday and Tyreke Evans.
The Magic still underwhelmed despite all of those advantages.
They had to recover from a brief fourth-quarter deficit after Pelicans rookie Buddy Hield sank a jumper that put the Pelicans ahead 70-69 with 9:30 to play.
Backup point guard D.J. Augustin followed on Orlando's next trip down the court by banking in a short step-back jumper off the glass. After a missed layup by the Pelicans, Augustin received a pass from Aaron Gordon and sank a 3 from the top of the arc.
After a 3-pointer by Langston Galloway, the Magic received a 3-pointer by Damjan Rudez and then a layup by Rudez on a Pelicans goaltending violation.
Rudez's layup put Orlando ahead, 79-73.
Even that lead wasn't safe.
New Orleans whittled its deficit to 81-79, but Gordon sank a wide-open 3-pointer from the top of the arc with 4:19 to go.
Davis' absence was a surprise. Although he didn't participate in New Orleans' morning shootaround, team officials still thought he would play when the team left the arena around noon. But Davis' quadriceps tightened during the afternoon and was ruled out.
The Pelicans (2-10) were struggling even when he was healthy.
But they're also missing Holiday, who has missed the team's first 12 games to deal with a family health crisis, and Evans, who is recovering from a knee injury.
Without Davis, Holiday and Evans, the Pelicans may be the NBA's worst team.
The Magic (5-7) shouldn't be concerned about style points. But their victory still invited concern.
They led the Pelicans 52-40 at halftime but failed to put the game out of reach.
Former Magic guard E'Twaun Moore cut the lead to 54-47 on a jumper several minutes into the third quarter, forcing Frank Vogel to call a timeout. That stoppage didn't stop the bleeding. Terrence Jones sank a jumper and soon made a 3-pointer to pull the Pelicans within 54-52.
Magic center Nikola Vucevic continues to struggle. He entered the night on a 5-for-32 shooting slump, and on Wednesday, he made five of his 12 attempts from the field and went 0 for 2 at the free-throw line.
His problems are emblematic of a sputtering offense. Orlando made only 38.6 percent of its attempts against New Orleans.
Vucevic redeemed himself somewhat late. With the Magic clinging to an 86-82 lead, he and Elfrid Payton ran a pick-and-roll, and Vucevic sank a shot from 6 feet.
When the Pelicans missed a shot on their next trip down the court, Vucevic collected the defensive rebound. On the ensuing Magic possession, Vucevic made a short hook shot to extend the lead to 88-82 with 27.9 seconds to go.
Wednesday's game began a stretch in which Orlando will play five of six games at Amway Center, and all but one of those matchups will be against teams that did not qualify for last season's playoffs.
For a while, the matchup against the Pelicans looked like it would turn into a comfortable Magic win.
The Magic held a 29-28 lead with eight minutes to go in the second quarter, and they started to generate some breathing room with Augustin, C.J. Watson, Gordon, Rudez and Bismack Biyombo on the court.
Rudez started the onslaught when he caught a pass in the right corner from Biyombo and drained a 3-pointer. Watson soon followed with a pair of made free throws, and Augustin scored on a fast break layup.
That started a 13-1 Magic run in which they extended their lead to 42-29.
That lead didn't last.
