Magic sizzle in 112-102 win over Grizzlies
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Aaron Gordon scored 30 points and six teammates followed in double figures, leading the Orlando Magic to an impressive 112-102 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night.
The Magic (15-18) led from start to finish for the second consecutive game, duplicating a victory on Friday over the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Grizzlies (20-13) never got closer than 10 points in the second half.
Backup point guard Elfrid Payton had 16 points, including three consecutive baskets in the fourth quarter that stopped a late Memphis rally. Serge Ibaka had 16 points and six rebounds. Nikola Vucevic had 13 points and nine rebounds, and Jodie Meeks also had 13 points, all in the first quarter.
Bismack Biyombo added 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds and D.J. Augustin scoed 10 points for the Magic.
The Grizzlies came into the game allowing just 97.3 points per game, second fewest in the NBA, but failed to slow the Magic and never seriously challenged.
Mike Conley led the Grizzlies with 17 points. Reserve Troy Daniels had 15 points. Veteran Zach Randolph, now in a reserve role, had 13 points. Marc Gasol scored 11 points and Tony Allen had 10.
Gordon scored 15 points in the third quarter, hitting three 3-pointers to make sure the Magic maintained a comfortable 25-point lead going into the fourth.
Memphis starter Chandler Parsons, who has missed 24 games this season with knee problems, didn't play in the second half after going scoreless in the first two quarters.
The Magic led 68-43 at halftime, riding a hot-shooting start (57.8 percent from the field) and four players scoring in double figure before intermission.
The Magic led by 18 after the first quarter and by as many as 29 points in the second.
Meeks, in just his second start of the season, led everyone with 13 points in the first quarter when he hit five of his first six shots from the floor. The 36 points were the most the Magic have scored this season in the first quarter.
Conley, who was scoreless in the first quarter, had 13 points in the second quarter, but help was hard to find. Biyombo had 10 rebounds before intermission.
Augustin hit a 3-pointer to start the game, giving the Magic the lead they never lost.
NOTES: G Evan Fournier, the Magic's leading scorer at 17.8 points per game, missed his second consecutive game with a bruised right heel, leading to another start for G Jodie Meeks. ... Grizzlies G Vince Carter, the oldest active player in the league at 39, played in his 1,300th regular-season game Monday night, tying Ray Allen for 20th in NBA history. ... Earlier this season, the Grizzlies beat the Magic in Memphis by overcoming a 14-point deficit in the final 6:12, riding a strong finish by C Marc Gasol, who scored eight points in the final four minutes. In that first meeting, Memphis G Mike Conley, F Zach Randolph, and F Chandler Parsons and Carter didn't play. ... Parsons, who played his high school basketball in central Florida, received a warm welcome from the Magic crowd. ... The Grizzlies failed to pick up their 10th win in December, something they had never accomplished in franchise history.