NEW ORLEANS _ Marreese Speights has turned coming off the bench into an art form, and his uncanny ability to provide instant offense saved the Orlando Magic on Monday night.
With Aaron Gordon and Jonathan Isaac in foul trouble all game, Speights gave the Magic a crucial lift in the second half and led his new team to a 115-99 victory over the New Orleans Hornets at the Smoothie King Center.
Speights scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half.
With 7:16 to play, he received a pass from Shelvin Mack and drained a 3 from the right corner, just in front of the Pelicans' bench. When the ball swished in, putting the Magic ahead 106-89, Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry called a timeout. Speights ran toward the Magic bench, smiling. Evan Fournier ran to the midcourt line and chest-bumped Speights in celebration.
Speights made six of his 10 attempts from beyond the arc.
Jonathon Simmons, Nikola Vucevic and Fournier scored 20 points apiece.
With the victory, the Magic improved to 5-2, equaling their best start since the 2011-12 season.
To get that win, they had to overcome superstar Anthony Davis, who scored a game-high 39 points for the Pelicans.
The Magic knew this road trip to Charlotte, New Orleans and Memphis would offer some clues about their makeup.
On Sunday night, they fell to the Hornets 120-113 as Kemba Walker scored 34 points.
On Monday, on the second evening of a back-to-back, Orlando opened with plenty of energy, racing out to a 40-28 lead even though their top two power forwards, Gordon and Isaac, picked up two early fouls apiece, forcing coach Frank Vogel to put Speights into the game.
The Magic held DeMarcus Cousins scoreless during the first quarter, but Cousins awoke in the next period. He scored 10 consecutive Pelicans points and hit a 3 to cut the Magic's lead to 43-36.
Gordon was whistled for his third foul with 4:35 to go until halftime. Isaac subbed in and committed his third foul 21 seconds later. Speights had to go back in.
Most of those fouls occurred as Gordon or Isaac guarded Davis, and Davis made the Magic pay, erupting for 26 points in the first half.
With 11 seconds to go in the second quarter, Speights had a 3-point try rattle in and out of the hoop. A few seconds later, New Orleans' Tony Allen sank a try, putting the Pelicans ahead, 64-60.
But the Magic opened the third quarter on a 12-2 run, keyed by a 3-pointer by Vucevic and a 3 by Gordon.
Gentry called a timeout, and it seemed to curb the Magic's momentum.
New Orleans went on a 10-2 run, and Dante Cunningham made 3-pointers from in front of the Orlando bench on back-to-back possessions to tie the score at 72.
Gordon picked up his fourth foul on a charging violation with 4:05 to go in the third quarter. The turnover followed two poor possessions in which Gordon over-dribbled.
The Pelicans (3-4) looked like they were about to take control.
But Isaac made a turnaround jumper. A short while later, Speights drained a 3 from the top of the arc over Davis. Speights' 3 put Orlando up 88-83 with 30 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Magic opened the fourth quarter on a 7-1 run. Simmons scored on a driving layup. Soon, Speights drilled a 3 from the top of the arc over Cousins. On the Pelicans' next trip, Isaac blocked a shot by E'Twaun Moore.
Simmons scooped up the loose ball and scored on a layup as he was fouled by Jameer Nelson. The and-one extended Orlando's lead to 96-84 with 10:21 to play.
After a New Orleans miss, Speights made another trey. Orlando led 99-84.
He was only starting to impact the game.
