Magic 104, Pelicans 89
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Center Nikola Vucevic had a season-high 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to lead the Orlando Magic to a 104-89 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans Monday night.
Magic guard Evan Fournier had 20 points and hit three of his four shots from 3-point range. Forward Tobias Harris had 14 points and nine rebounds, and reserve forward Andrew Nicholson had 13 points in 21 minutes.
Anthony Davis led the Pelicans (10-21) with 20 points and eight rebounds.
The Magic (18-13) shot 54.9 percent from the field, their fourth consecutive game shooting better than 50 percent. Vucevic scored more than 20 points for the sixth consecutive game.
The Magic, who have won six of their last eight games, never trailed in the second half, and the Pelicans never got closer than 11 points in the fourth period.
Pelicans reserve guard Norris Cole had 17 points and eight rebounds, and guard Tyreke Evans had 16 points and eight assists. Guard Eric Gordon, who had a game-high 26 points in a Pelicans' victory Saturday, had just three points and didn't score until the final period.
The Magic opened a 15-point lead late in the third quarter, but the Pelicans closed it to 11 by the start of the fourth.
Vucevic had 16 points by halftime when the Magic led 50-46. Fournier hit both his 3-point attempts and scored 13 points in the first half.
Davis had 14 points before intermission when the Pelicans shot 55 percent (11 of 20) from the field. They were hurt early by poor free throw shooting (1 of 6) and seven turnovers in the first two periods.
The Magic scored the first nine points of the game, getting back-to-back 3-pointers from forward Channing Frye and Fournier. The Pelicans led by as many as four in the first half when the lead changed hands six times. Cole scored 11 points in the second quarter to keep it close.
Magic guard Elfrid Payton left the game limping in the first period when he reinjured a sore ankle, but he returned in the second quarter and continued playing.
NOTES: Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry wasn't bashful about his praise of Magic coach Scott Skiles and the job he has done in his first season in Orlando. "Anyone who knows Scott Skiles knows his team is going to play with the intensity of a Game 7 in the NBA Finals," Gentry said before Monday's game. "Scott has done as good a job as anyone in the league from where his team was last season." . . . . . Since Nov. 25, the Magic are 11-5, best record of any team in the Eastern Conference in that span. . . . The Magic beat the Pelicans Nov. 3 in New Orleans, but F Anthony Davis made only three of 14 shots for only 14 points. . . . Pelicans G Eric Gordon was coming off the finest shooting game of his career when he hit 10 of 12 shots and six of eight from 3-point range in the victory over Houston two nights earlier. He became the first NBA player since 2007 to hit at least 80 percent of his shots while attempting at least 12 field goals, and also hitting at least 75 percent of his 3-point shots with at least eight attempts. . . . Entering Monday's action, Pelicans G Tyreke Evans was one of only two NBA players averaging at least 15.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game. The other is Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City.