For a little over three quarters Sunday, it was the New Orleans Pelicans who had all the magic.
Even Jordan Poole’s off-balanced, left-handed 3-pointer as the shot clock expired late in the third quarter found its way through the nets at Kia Center.
But none of it mattered in the end.
The Pelicans unraveled in the fourth quarter and saw their misery continue against the Orlando Magic with a 128-118 loss.
“Same thing,” said Pelicans' interim head coach James Borrego. “We just keep putting ourselves in these positions. You’ve got to make plays.”
Late in this game, the Pelicans didn’t. They couldn’t make enough shots. They turned the ball over. And on the other end of the court, Orlando’s duo of Paolo Banchero and Desmond Bane took over.
“It happened in (last week’s) Lakers’ game,” Borrego said. “Their two guys (LeBron James and Luka Doncic) made plays and tonight Orlando’s two guys made plays. Paolo and Bane drove on us and got to the rim. We can look at our offense, but we gave up 37 points (in the fourth quarter).”
Borrego’s team got outscored 37-20 in the final quarter. The Pels led 98-91 going into the fourth quarter. Poole made a 3-pointer with 9:04 left that gave the Pelicans a 107-98 lead. But the Magic answered with a 22-8 run. Bane and Banchero scored 21 of the Magic’s last 23 points and finished with 27 and 23 points, respectively. Orlando’s Anthony Black finished with 26.
Zion Williamson led the Pelicans with 22 points, while Trey Murphy and Poole scored 21 points each.
Poole, who has struggled lately, had one of his best shooting games since joining the Pelicans. He went 6-for-8 on 3-pointers. Poole wasn’t the only major contributor off the bench. Karlo Matkovic scored 11 points and Yves Missi scored seven points to go with his five rebounds and four blocked shots.
“I thought they were great,” Borrego said about the bench. “Poole made some big plays, and obviously, he got going offensively. Yves was fantastic in the first half. “
Rookie center Derik Queen, fresh off his second career double-double in Friday’s win over the Washington Wizards, had 10 points and six assists. Jeremiah Fears, the other rookie starter, finished with 16 points, four rebounds and three assists. Fears missed a layup with 2:01 left that would have cut it to 120-119. Instead, the Magic scored four straight points to push Orlando’s lead to 124-117. It was one of several Pelicans' miscues in the fourth quarter.
The Pelicans have lost their last eight games against the Magic. Their last win against Orlando came in December of 2021. The Pelicans now hit the midway point of the season with a 9-32 record and have lost 10 of their last 11 games.
They return home to play back-to-back games Tuesday and Wednesday against the Denver Nuggets and Brooklyn Nets.
“We’ve got to have more poise and execute down the stretch,” Borrego said. “But you’ve got to make plays. Bottom line. All of us. That’s my job to keep helping put us in position, but ultimately, we’ve got to go make plays.”