George’s 26 lead Thunder past Magic
Oklahoma City Thunder’s Paul George (13) shoots over Orlando Magic’s Evan Fournier (10) in the second half of an NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City, Monday, Feb. 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Paul George scored 26 points to help the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Orlando Magic 112-105 on Monday night.
George, who scored just five points on 1-for-14 shooting in a blowout loss to Golden State on Saturday, made 9 of 20 shots against the Magic and Frank Vogel, who was his coach when he played for the Indiana Pacers.
Steven Adams scored 16 points and Russell Westbrook had eight points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for the Thunder.
Evan Fournier and Jonathon Simmons each scored 19 points and Aaron Gordon added 18 for Orlando, which lost its sixth straight.
Oklahoma City held Orlando to 43 points on 37 percent shooting in the second half.
The Magic led 62-61 at halftime after shooting 56 percent and making 8 of 14 3-pointers before the break. Westbrook, George and Carmelo Anthony shot a combined 9 for 25 in the first half, but Adams kept the Thunder in the game with 15 points.
The Thunder opened the second half with a 6-0 run. After the teams played evenly through much of the quarter, Oklahoma City closed with a 9-0 run to lead 84-75 heading into the fourth.
A dunk by Gordon cut Oklahoma City’s lead to 105-101, but George hit a 3-pointer with about a minute remaining to make it a seven-point lead.
TIP-INS
Magic: Former Thunder G D.J. Augustin started for Orlando. … The Magic shot 70 percent in the first quarter and made 6 of 8 3-pointers. … Nikola Vucevic scored 15 points.
Thunder: Alex Abrines got a monster stuff on a drive by Mario Hezonja in the second quarter. It was the shooting guard’s sixth block of the season. … The Thunder held the Magic to 15 points in the third quarter. … Westbrook finished with five fouls. He averages just over two fouls per game. … Westbrook fell one basket short of what would have been his 19th triple-double of the season and the 98th of his career. … Oklahoma City outrebounded Orlando 50-35.
UP NEXT:
The Magic host the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday.
The Thunder visit the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday.
