Dark day for Suns against Orlando

The Orlando Magic and Phoenix Suns were both disgusted with their previous game.

Only Orlando came away feeling better Sunday night.

Tobias Harris scored 21 points and the Magic held off a late Phoenix rally to beat the Suns, 93-90, on Sunday night, local time, and snap a four-game losing streak, the latest a 98-83 loss at Indiana on Friday night.

“Coach was pretty disappointed in us by the way we played and by the approach we took for the Indiana game,’’ Harris said. “Today was a good bounce-back game for us.’’

Nikola Vucevic added 18 points for the Magic, who led by 16 early in the fourth quarter before the Suns cut it to three with 1:02 to play.

It was the second loss in three nights for the Suns, who were blown out in Denver 122-97 on Friday night.

“Orlando, they played hard for 48 minutes,’’ said Phoenix Coach Jeff Hornacek. “We played hard for about 12 minutes.’’

Hornacek drew a technical on Orlando’s next possession, the coach claiming to no avail that Vucevic traveled on a layup.

Consecutive 3-pointers by Goran Dragic and Gerald Green, the second with 2.9 seconds to go, cut the lead to 91-90.

Evan Fournier sank two free throws with 1.6 seconds to go and Phoenix failed to get a shot off at the buzzer.

Dragic scored 22 points and Markieff Morris had 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for the Suns.

The Magic were able to disrupt the guard play that is the core of the Suns’ game and played offense at the pace they prefer.

“Overall we had a great emphasis on getting the ball under control,’’ said Orlando Coach Jacque Vaughn.’

Elfrid Payton’s two free throws with 10 1/2 minutes to play gave the Magic their biggest lead at 74-58.

Then the Suns finally got going. Dragic and Green each had steals and baskets - Green’s a dunk - and Morris’ two free throws cut it to 83-80 with 1:02 to go.

Then came Vucevic’s European-style layup and the technical foul it drew.

The Magic outscored Phoenix 13-1 over the final 3:13 of the first half to lead 52-39 at the half.

The game was sloppy, with 23 turnovers by Orlando and 19 by Phoenix.

AP