D.J. Augustin made his presence felt at the Amway Center on Saturday night. The veteran guard from Texas came up big in the fourth quarter as the Orlando Magic beat the Dallas Mavericks 97-87.
Heading into the fourth quarter, the Magic trailed the Mavericks 69-66. Over the final 12 minutes, Orlando outscored their opponents from Texas, 31-18.
Augustin played a huge role in the victory. In addition to his 18 points, he dished out six assists to account for 30 points. Ten of his points came in the fourth quarter as Dallas persistently hung with Orlando.
He made two critical three-pointers within a minute of each other midway through the fourth quarter. The first one put Orlando ahead and the second one extended the lead.
Those shots represented the turning point in the game.
“Coach (Frank Vogel) wants me to shoot when I’m open, just be aggressive,” said Augustin. “Coach does a great job giving everyone on the team confidence.”
Augustin certainly had some help from his teammates. Serge Ibaka was a force on both ends, scoring 15 points with 9 rebounds and three blocked shots. Nikola Vucevic had a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Bismack Biyombo was a major force on the court. He had his first double-figure game, scoring 13 points, but he helped altered shots that he didn’t block, but wound up blocking three. He also had 10 rebounds.
The Mavericks stayed in the game with three-point shooting, making 13 in 29 attempts. They needed the long-distance connections because they were missing two key players.
Guard Deron Williams missed his second straight game as did future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki. Jonathan Gibson, in only his second NBA game, tried to make up for the loss of playmakers by pouring in 26 points off the bench.
It marked the second straight game Orlando missed seeing an All-Star from a Western Conference team. New Orleans Pelicans All-Star Anthony Davis missed Wednesday’s loss to the Magic.
After losing three straight, the Magic have now won three of four to improve their record to 6-7. They will try to get to .500 on Monday night when they travel to Milwaukee to face the Bucks.
