ORLANDO, Fla. _ What happened inside Amway Center on Friday night almost seemed like a mirage.
After five years of playing mostly horrendous basketball, the Magic might _ just might _ be snapping out of their funk.
The Magic flat-out dominated one of the NBA's perennially elite teams.
Led by Evan Fournier and sparked by unselfish ball movement and a dialed-in defense, the Magic crushed the San Antonio Spurs, 114-87.
Fournier scored a game-high 25 points, and the Spurs made just 34 percent of their shots.
Former Spur Jonathon Simmons, the Magic's highest-profile offseason signee, added 17 points, four rebounds and two assists in his first regular-season game against his old teammates.
With the victory, Orlando improved its record to 4-1, equaling its best start since the 2011-12 season.
A tough challenge awaits, though. The Magic will leave Saturday afternoon for a three-game road trip to Charlotte, New Orleans and Memphis. Maybe then the team will come back to earth.
Then again, the previously undefeated Spurs were supposed to beat the Magic, too.
Orlando set the tone early on Friday.
Early in the first quarter, Nikola Vucevic cut through the center of the lane toward the hoop, received a pass from Fournier and scored on a layup, putting the Magic ahead 4-2. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich immediately called a timeout even though only 1 minute, 49 seconds had elapsed.
With four minutes remaining in the first quarter, Vucevic passed up a shot attempt about 10 feet from the hoop and hurled the ball to Fournier for a wide-open 3. Fournier drained the shot, which extended the Magic's lead to 18-11.
Even the Magic's reserves gave the team a boost.
Early in the second quarter, rookie forward Jonathan Isaac took a charge from Rudy Gay as Gay lowered his shoulder on a foray to the hoop. Everyone on the Magic bench _ including Vucevic, Fournier, Aaron Gordon, D.J. Augustin, Marreese Speights and Wes Iwundu _ stood and applauded.
The announced crowd of 17,337 did a lot of applauding, too.
Late in the second quarter, Augustin stole the ball from Patty Mills and sprinted coast-to-coast for a layup. The basket increased the lead to 58-31, the largest lead to that point. After San Antonio's Bryn Forbes sank a corner 3 on the ensuing possession, Orlando answered immediately. Vucevic drained a 3-pointer from the top of the arc.
The Magic led 61-34 at halftime.
To be sure, the Spurs (4-1) lacked sharpness and looked old and unathletic. They missed some shots they normally would've made. And it didn't help that they were missing injured superstar Kawhi Leonard, who hasn't played yet this season.
But the Magic also created their own luck.
Four minutes into the third quarter, the Magic hurled the basketball around the court like a pinball springing off taut rubber bands. Terrence Ross fast-balled a pass parallel to the baseline to Augustin in the left corner. Instead of taking a shot, Augustin passed to his right to Fournier, who was wide-open near the left break of the arc. Fournier elevated, snapped his right wrist and drained a 3, ballooning the Magic's advantage to 72-40.
The Spurs didn't score their 50th point of the game until 4:09 remained in the third quarter.
By that point, Orlando led by 32 points.
Not even San Antonio could come back from that.
The Magic's starters _ Augustin, Ross, Fournier, Gordon and Vucevic _ sat out the entire fourth quarter. The team no longer needed them.
Fournier made 10 of his 12 shot attempts, including all four of his shots from 3-point range. Vucevic added 15 points and went 3 of 3 from beyond the arc.
With 9:56 to go, the Magic's mascot, Stuff, took a shot from center court with his back to the basket.
The ball banked in.
The Magic did almost nothing wrong Friday night.
Even the mascot was almost perfect.
