ORLANDO, Fla. — Nik Vucevic hit an 18-footer at the buzzer and the Orlando Magic beat the Atlanta Hawks 96-94 on Sunday.
Elfrid Payton, who set up Vucevic’s winning shot with an inbounds pass, scored or assisted the Magic’s final six baskets as they won for only the third time in 18 games in 2016.
The Magic had gone scoreless since Payton’s jump shot with 3:41 left, squandering a 94-86 lead.
Vucevic led Orlando with 22 points and nine rebounds and Evan Fournier, starting in place of the injured Tobias Harris, added 21 points. Payton had 12 points and 12 assists.
Jeff Teague scored 24 for the Hawks, who had won three straight and had beaten Orlando in 17 of their 20 preceding meetings. Kent Bazemore finished with 23 points and eight rebounds for Atlanta.
Big starts by Fournier and Vucevic, along with seven Atlanta turnovers, staked the Magic to an early 14-point lead, and Orlando led 48-41 after a first half in which the Hawks shot 34 per cent (14 for 41).
The margin was back to 14 until Atlanta’s Thabo Sefolosha finished the third quarter with a 3-point bank shot from beyond the mid-court line.
Teague scored seven of nine straight Atlanta points early in the fourth quarter, and a 3-pointer by Bazemore with 48 seconds left pulled the Hawks even for the first time since their 4-2 lead in the first minute.
TIP-INS
Hawks: C Tiago Splitter sat out a fourth straight game with a hip injury and will rest through the All-Star break.
Magic: F Tobias Harris, who took stitches in his head after a collision in the fourth quarter Friday night, missed his first game of the season with a sore left ankle.
UP NEXT
The Magic and Hawks play in Atlanta on Monday night.
