Magic defeat Nets, snap five-game slide
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Elfrid Payton had 22 points and 11 assists, and the Orlando Magic snapped a five-game losing streak by beating the Brooklyn Nets 115-107 on Thursday night at the Amway Center.
Aaron Gordon had 21 points for the Magic (28-51). Nikola Vucevic had 18 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Jodie Meeks, starting in place of Evan Fournier, had 20 points while Mario Hezonja scored 11.
Jeremy Lin scored a season-high 32 points for the Nets (19-59), who never led in the second half and had their season-high three-game winning streak snapped.
Caris LeVert scored 20 points for the Nets, including 12 in the final five minutes when they closed to within five points. Spencer Dinwiddie had 11 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Brook Lopez, Isaiah Whitehead and Justin Hamilton each scored 10 points.
Meeks, who started but was scoreless in the first half, scored 18 points in the third period, including four 3-pointers, giving the Magic an 86-71 lead. Meeks scored 13 consecutive points in a two-minute stretch midway in the period, opening a 71-57 advantage.
The Magic scored the last six points of the first half, then eight of the first nine in the second half for a 58-51 lead they never lost.
Lin scored 17 points in the first half, including a pair of 3-pointers in the second period when the Nets grabbed a 50-44 lead, their largest in the first two quarters.
Payton had 12 points in the first half. Payton hit a pair of baskets late in the second period to tie the game at 50. They opened the second quarter with a 9-1 run and grabbed a 31-26 lead.
At one point in the second period, the Magic played Stephen Zimmerman, Marcus Georges-Hunt and Patricio Garino -- all in the NBA Development League much of the season -- together.
NOTES: Magic leading scorer Evan Fournier (17.2 points per game) missed the game with a sore right wrist. ... The Magic stopped playing veteran F Jeff Green for the season, giving his playing time to less-experienced Aaron Gordon and Mario Hezonja. Green is on a one-year contract paying him $15 million. "I wanted to finish out the games," he said. "But it was the team's decision to shut me down." Green is listed as having a sore lower back. ... Magic coach Frank Vogel said before the game that starting G Terrance Ross would play only the first half, but changed his mind by opening the third period with Ross. ... Nets C Brook Lopez needs 35 points to become the leading scorer in franchise history. ... The Nets beat the Magic 121-111 on Saturday in Brooklyn when Lopez scored 30. ... Nets PG Jeremy Lin said this late-season surge, winning six of the last 10 games, gave the team a new attitude. "We're going into games now with higher expectations," he said.