• Final stats

ORLANDO, Fla. – Hours before the Orlando Magic hosted the Atlanta Hawks, Orlando executed one trade before the 3 p.m. trade deadline. Former starting point guard Elfrid Payton was on his way to the Phoenix Suns, and the Magic now needed to adjust their guard rotation.

Fortunately for the Magic, veterans D.J. Augustin and Evan Fournier rose to the occasion for a 100-98 Magic victory at Amway Center Thursday night in front of 16,215 fans.

Augustin and Fournier took the most shot attempts for Orlando, each recording 14, as Fournier led all Magic scorers with 22, and Augustin scored 18. In just his eighth start this season, Augustin also teased a season-high in assists, going for 9 against Atlanta.

“Like I said many times, we’re just competing, man. We’re just competing,” Fournier said after the win. “We’re not thinking about what’s next, the mistakes we’ve made or what we could’ve done better. We’re just competing, playing as hard as we can, and good things are happening.”

Trailing 85-83 with just over three minutes to play, Augustin made a 3 to take a narrow, one-point lead. Atlanta responded with a dunk by John Collins, but, on the ensuing possession, Fournier reclaimed the lead for the Magic.

Fournier drove into the paint for an and-1 floater and converted on the following free throw for a two-point cushion. The 25-year-old, then, gave the Magic a five-point lead with a 3 on the Magic’s next possession after Atlanta’s Dennis Schröder missed an inside-the-paint look for the tie.

Taurean Prince made it a three-point game, again, with a dunk, but Fournier’s step-back jumper with less than a minute to play gave the Magic the cushion they needed to win.

“Evan,” Mario Hezonja quickly responded to being asked about what helped the Magic win late after the game. “He was knocking down shots, and we were sharing the ball. There was couple opportunities where we could just, like shoot the ball just ’cause, but we didn’t do it. We had extra pass, and we were knocking down easy, open shots, and we were keeping our lead all the time, especially late in these crunch minutes…”

After the Magic scored 26 in the opening quarter, both teams struggled to score, as Atlanta out-scored Orlando 16-13. The third quarter was just as closely contested, as Orlando entered the final period trailing by one.

Veteran forward Marreese Speights kept Atlanta from holding an even greater advantage with his 3-point shooting. The Hawks made it a five-point game with a minute left in the third, but Speights hit back-to-back 3s to end the quarter. He finished the game with 14 points on 4-for-10 shooting from deep.

Speights’ voluminous effort from beyond the arc, perhaps, epitomizes the new direction the Magic are moving toward. Orlando took 30 3s, made nine, against Atlanta, just beating their average of 29.1 3s per game. Augustin went 2-for-6 from 3, replacing Payton who averaged just 1.5 3s per game this season with Orlando.

“[3-point shooting] is a huge factor, and, you know, D.J.’s gonna give us a lift there,” Magic head coach Frank Vogel said after the win. “Elfrid is a much-improved 3-point shooter, so it’s not like we’re, you know, losing that part of it. But D.J. has that respect. You know, teams are gonna stick with him and give us more space out there.”

Who’s Next?

The Magic conclude a three-game home stand against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday at 7 p.m. Orlando is 0-1 against Milwaukee this season, having lost to the Bucks 110-103 on Jan. 10. Following the win over Atlanta, the Magic are now 11-14 at home.

For more on the Magic, as they look to claim their first four-game winning streak of the season, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.

To contact Victor, you can email him at vtan@newdayreview.com.