FILE — Fred VanVleet #23 of the Toronto Raptors shoots over Aaron Gordon #00 of the Orlando Magic in the second half at Visa Athletic Center at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on August 5, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Kim Klement-Pool/Getty Images/AFP
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida— Fred VanVleet had 21 points and 10 assists, and the Toronto Raptors held on to beat the Orlando Magic 109-99 on Wednesday night.
Pascal Siakam added 15 points and Kyle Lowry finished with eight points, nine rebounds and 10 assists.
Toronto (49-18) has won its last seven dating back to before the hiatus and three straight games since the restart.
VanVleet said the Raptors knew early on that things were clicking for them.
“Just a rhythm and a flow, and everybody locked in and keying into the game plan,” he said. “I thought we started off strong, had a drop off and then got back to it late. We’ve been playing with each other long enough to kind of know when we’re in sync.”
Tonight's Winning Numbers presented by @OntarioLottery. #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/yerFd9GJLD
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) August 6, 2020
The Magic (32-37) missed an opportunity to clinch a playoff spot following Washington’s loss to Philadelphia earlier Wednesday. But they maintained their 7 1/2-game lead over the Wizards for the eighth seed with four seeding games to play.
They also may be without forward Aaron Gordon for an undetermined amount of time after he left the game in the third quarter with a left hamstring injury after taking a hard foul from Lowry.
Gordon was going up for a dunk and was hit on the arm as Lowry went to strip the ball. Gordon’s left leg extended high in the air before he crashed to the floor and immediately reached for his left hamstring. He was able to shoot the ensuing free throws but then struggled to run down the court. He went to the locker room on the next timeout.
Lowry received a Flagrant 1 foul after a review by officials. Gordon had nine points and 11 rebounds at the time of his injury. Magic coach Steven Clifford said he hadn’t seen the replay of the foul and didn’t known the extent of the injury.
“Obviously, officials didn’t think it was the right play because they called a flagrant,” Clifford said. “But, obviously, it would be a huge hit for us.”
Evan Fournier and Terrence Ross each had 15 points for Orlando.
Despite Gordon’s exit, the Magic cut into the Raptors’ 20-point halftime lead, trimming it to 78-71 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.
But that would be as close as they would get to rest of the way.
The Raptors spaced the floor well early, building a 24-8 lead in the opening period. They also were active on the defensive end, limiting Orlando to 5-of-20 shooting (0 for 9 from 3-point line). Orlando finished the quarter with 11 points, a season low by a Toronto opponent.
Toronto carried its momentum into the second quarter, taking a 51-30 lead late on the second of back-to-back 3-pointers by Lowry. The Raptors held a 55-35 advantage at halftime.
Despite having a chance to clinch the second seed in the East on Friday against the Celtics, coach Nick Nurse said the Raptors aren’t thinking that far ahead.
“I don’t know. Nothing seems to have a super high level of unimportance or importance,” Nurse said. “We want to play and we want to play to win that game. We’re going to play our guys and we’re going to play to win.
“Whether it’s a high-leverage game or a little less leverage game, we’re going to try to treat it the same from a prep standpoint and an effort standpoint.”
TIP-INS
Raptors: Patrick McCaw (left knee soreness) and Oshae Brissett (right knee soreness) both missed their third straight game.
Magic: The 35 points they scored in the first half were a low for any half this season. … Michael Carter-Williams sat with a sore left foot.
UP NEXT
Raptors: Play Celtics on Friday.
Magic: Play 76ers on Friday.