ORLANDO, Fla. _ Frank Vogel saw Wednesday night's game against the Brooklyn Nets possibly slipping away early in the fourth quarter.
With Shelvin Mack, Rodney Purvis, Jamel Artis, Khem Birch and Bismack Biyombo on the floor to begin the quarter, the Orlando Magic just didn't have enough offense in their lineup to prevent the Nets from building on a four-point lead.
So Vogel did something sensible and brought in Mario Hezonja for Artis and Aaron Gordon for Birch with 10:44 to go.
The move backfired.
The offense seemed to slow down and lose its ball movement, Brooklyn went on a decisive run and Orlando lost, 111-104, at Amway Center.
After the substitutions, the Nets went on a 14-1 run as the Magic missed eight consecutive shots and turned the ball over twice. Gordon accounted for three of the eight misses.
Game over.
Gordon finished with 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting while center Nikola Vucevic recorded game-highs of 24 points and 15 rebounds. But Vucevic's contributions weren't enough.
Seven Nets players scored from 13 to 16 points, led by Caris LeVert, who had 16 points off the bench.
Brooklyn entered the night second in the NBA in 3-pointers attempted per game at 35.1. Orlando made so much of an effort to guard the 3-point line that Brooklyn's perimeter players had no problems driving to the rim and leaving defenders in the dust.
The Nets led 65-61 midway through the third quarter but opened some space with a 13-6 run.
Allen Crabbe made a 3-pointer from the right corner to extend Brooklyn's lead to 75-63. On Orlando's ensuing possession, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson intercepted an off-target pass by D.J. Augustin. Seconds later, Crabbe received a pass in the left corner from D'Angelo Russell and then drained a 3. The 15-point lead was the Nets' biggest lead of the game to that point.
The Magic recovered, going on an 18-7 run of their own. Vucevic keyed the surge with eight points, six rebounds and one assist.
This ought to be the stretch of the season when the Magic pile up some victories and, as a result, see their hopes of winning the 2018 NBA draft lottery evaporate in the process.
This is, by far, the easiest portion of their schedule.
Wednesday's matchup continued a stretch in which the Magic will play six consecutive games against teams at or near the bottom of their respective conference standings.
The stretch tipped off Saturday night with a win over the hapless and injury-riddled Phoenix Suns at Amway Center.
And it will continue with a home game Friday against the Chicago Bulls followed by road games against the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks and a home game against the Dallas Mavericks.
Through Tuesday, the Nets, Bulls, Hawks, Knicks and Mavericks owned a combined 118-253 record, a winning percentage of .318.
The Magic opened Wednesday with the NBA's fourth-worst record, 22-51. But with so many upcoming games against subpar opponents, the Magic could see their hopes of winning the lottery take a nosedive.
Still, Orlando is riddled with injuries.
Evan Fournier, Jonathan Isaac, Terrence Ross and Jonathon Simmons didn't play Wednesday because of injuries, and even rookie Wes Iwundu couldn't play because he had an upper-respiratory infection.
Fournier and Ross are unlikely to play again this season.
Wednesday's game against Brooklyn was the sixth game in a seven-game Magic homestand.
If the Magic had defeated the Nets, the Magic would have had a chance to complete the homestand with a 4-3 record by beating the Bulls.
"That's the plan," Vogel said before tipoff against Brooklyn. "One of the things we talk about being in a winning culture is if you're a playoff team, no team with a losing record comes into your building and gets a win. That's what we're talking about with tonight's game and with Friday's game. We've got a lot of (guys) out, but everybody's got to man-up and find a way to get a W and protect our home court."
The Magic couldn't find a way on Wednesday.
