The Sports Xchange
Nov 29, 2017
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Aaron Gordon scored 40 points, and the Orlando Magic snapped a nine-game losing streak by beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 121-108 on Wednesday night.
Gordon dominated the game by hitting 13 of 23 shots, including six of 12 from 3-point range. He produced his second career 40-point game and fell one shy of his career high set Oct. 24 against the Brooklyn Nets.
The Thunder (8-12) lost their third consecutive game and their fifth in the past six despite getting 37 points and 11 rebounds from Russell Westbrook.
Orlando's Elfrid Payton had 19 points and made eight of his 10 shots. He also had six assists. Nikola Vucevic had 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists while Evan Fournier had 16 points.
Westbrook scored 20 points in the fourth quarter, including five 3-pointers, but it wasn't enough to overcome Orlando, which shot a season-best 59.2 percent.
Paul George scored 22 points and Carmelo Anthony had 16 points for Thunder. Andre Roberson added 11 points.
The Magic (9-13) led 87-80 going into the fourth and scored the first 13 of the period for a 20-point lead with 8:48 remaining. Gordon opened the period with the first five points, including his fifth 3-pointer of the game.
The Thunder led 73-70 in the third after Anthony scored five consecutive points. The Magic, though, scored 13 consecutive points later in the third for an 87-77 lead, highlighted by back-to-back 3-pointers from Gordon and Fournier and five consecutive points from Vucevic.
The Magic led 59-57 at intermission. Gordon led everyone in the first half with 20 points and five rebounds. He made six of nine free throws.
NOTES: Magic G Terrence Ross left the game midway in the second quarter after hyperextending his right knee while trying to block a shot by G Russell Westbrook. ... Orlando rookie F Jonathan Isaac missed his ninth consecutive game with a sprained right ankle. ... In his two previous games in Orlando, Westbrook scored 57 and 48 points, respectively. ... The Thunder have struggled to shoot straight this season. Westbrook came into the game shooting just 40.1 percent, his lowest field-goal percentage since his rookie season. F Carmelo Anthony was shooting a career low 42.4 percent and F Paul George was shooting 42.2 percent, nearly four percentage points below last season. ... The Magic allowed 117.4 points per game through their nine-game' losing streak.