TORONTO — For the Orlando Magic, the first game of the playoffs felt a lot like the final few weeks of the regular season: high stakes, small margins, and a big win at the end of the day.
D.J. Augustin scored 25 points, including the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 3.5 seconds left, and the Magic beat the Toronto Raptors 104-101 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series on Saturday.
Kawhi Leonard got a final shot for Toronto, but missed the rim with his 3-pointer from the top.
Orlando went 22-9 over the final 31 games of the season to clinch its first playoff berth since 2012.
“I think it helps,” Magic coach Steve Clifford said of his team’s tough regular-season finish. “We’ve been playing games that we had to win and were meaningful games for a while.”
Nikola Vucevic, who scored 11 points, said Orlando’s stretch drive help the team’s mental preparation for the grind of the postseason.
“Throughout this last month, we were able to fight through a lot of different adversity and it has kind of prepared us for the playoffs,” Vucevic said.
And, when crunch time arrived in Game 1, Orlando was entirely unfazed.
“We made a bunch of big plays in the last three or four minutes,” Clifford said.
Aaron Gordon had 10 points and 10 rebounds, Evan Fournier scored 16 points and Jonathan Isaac had 11 as the No. 7-seeded Magic became the latest team to beat Toronto in the opening game of a playoff series. The Raptors are 2-14 in playoff openers.
“We know who we are and this is one game,” Toronto’s Kyle Lowry said. “We’ve got to make sure we know who we are and execute what we can do. When we do what we are supposed to do, we are really, really good.”
Leonard scored 25 points, Pascal Siakam had 24 and Fred VanVleet had 14 for the second-seeded Raptors, who reclaimed the lead after trailing by 16 points in the second quarter, but couldn’t hold on down the stretch.
Toronto got 13 points apiece from Danny Green and Marc Gasol, but Lowry finished scoreless, missing all seven of his attempts. Lowry did have eight assists and seven rebounds.
“He had some really good looks that he’s normally going to knock down,” coach Nick Nurse said. “I’m sure he’ll bounce back and play a little better in the next game.”
Leonard hit a tying 3 with 1:35 left, then put Toronto up 101-99 with a jumper at 1:02. Augustin made a layup to tie it again with 44 seconds left, then connected from long range for the fourth time to win the game.
Gasol said he and Leonard got their defensive assignments mixed up on Augustin’s decisive shot, leaving the guard wide open.
“It was a mistake made on that play,” Gasol said. “We miscommunicated and he made a good shot.”
Augustin’s 3 was the seventh lead change of the final quarter and the 13th of the game.
“When I saw the opening, I shot the ball with confidence and it went in,” he said.
Augustin made 9 of 13 attempts, going 4 of 5 from beyond the arc.
Leonard made all four of his attempts in the first and added a pair of free throws. He scored 11 points in the opening quarter as Toronto led 30-25.
Leading 42-41 with 3:46 remaining in the second, Orlando got 10 points from Augustin in a 15-0 run that put the Magic up 57-41 with 55 seconds left. Siakam stopped Toronto’s drought with a jump shot, and Gasol and Green added 3-pointers but the Raptors trailed 57-49 at halftime.
Leonard scored five points as Toronto used a 12-2 spurt at the start of the third, reclaiming the lead on Gasol’s 3 at 8:19. Siakam scored eight points in the third, while Leonard and Green each had seven, as the Raptors took a narrow 76-75 lead to the fourth.
TIP-INS
Magic: F Jonathan Isaac (concussion) and Nikola Vucevic (illness) both started after missing Orlando’s regular-season finale Wednesday. …Vucevic didn’t score in the first quarter, missing all three of his attempts.
Raptors: Toronto shot 3 for 10 from 3-point range in the first quarter, and 3 for 11 in the second. The Raptors finished 12 for 36 from outside. … Siakam had nine rebounds.
HERO’S WELCOME
Former Raptors C Jonas Valanciunas got a huge ovation when he walked to his baseline seat near the Toronto bench a few minutes before the tipoff. Valanciunas, C.J. Miles and Delon Wright were traded to Memphis in February for Gasol.
END OF THE LINE
Toronto failed to score at least 110 points for the first time in 10 games. The Raptors sett a franchise record by scoring 110 or more in nine straight games to finish the regular season.
UP NEXT
Game 2 is Tuesday night in Toronto
Courtesy: ESPN.com
