Orlando Magic interim coach James Borrego made it crystal clear: He’s going to stick with rookie point guard Elfrid Payton even if opposing teams attempt to take advantage of Payton’s struggles at the free-throw line.
“I’m not going to take him out if they keep hacking him,” Borrego said.
Borrego made his comments following one of the Magic’s most painful losses of the season, Friday night’s 95-88 defeat in Boston after his team outplayed the Boston Celtics for most of the game.
Payton sparked the Magic, finishing with a team-high 20 points, five rebounds and a team-high nine assists. But Payton faltered at the free-throw line, making just four of his 15 foul shots. At one point in the third quarter, the Celtics purposely fouled him to send him to the line.
“The last few games, I’ve been shooting my free throws real well,” Payton said after the game. “It was just a tough night from the free-throw line. No excuses.”
Payton has made 52.8 percent of his foul shots this season. During his three seasons at Louisiana-Lafayette, he made 61.1 percent of his free throws.
Although Payton struggled from the line on Friday night, he also made two of his three 3-point attempts, the first time in his pro career that he has made more than one 3-pointer in a game.
Vooch’s scar
Magic center Nikola Vucevic learned English in part by watching English-language movies and TV shows.
On Friday, he showed off his movie knowledge, although he probably wishes there had been no reason to do so.
Midway through the second quarter, Vucevic received the ball in the lane and pump-faked, causing Celtics big man Tyler Zeller to jump into the air. When Zeller landed, Zeller’s arm smacked Vucevic in the center of Vucevic’s forehead.
The play initially was called a common foul, but on review, it was ruled a Flagrant-1 foul.
Vucevic made both of his free throws, then went to the locker room, where he received eight stitches. He returned for the second half and finished the game with 16 points, 11 rebounds and three assists.
After the game, he took a picture of his scar.
“It’s a pretty good one,” Vucevic told reporters. “I took a picture of it. It doesn’t look really great. But I’ll be like Tony Montana in ‘Scarface.’ “
When Vucevic posted the photo on Twitter — and mentioned Tony Montana — teammate Maurice Harkless chimed in.
“More like Harry Potter,” Harkless wrote.
Facing LeBron
The Magic won’t have much time to wallow following their 0-3 road trip to Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Boston.
They’ll host LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night.
It’s possible the Magic will assign rookie forward Aaron Gordon to guard James at times. Gordon sat out both of the Magic’s games against the Cavaliers earlier this season because Gordon was recovering from surgery to repair a fractured bone in his left foot.
How will Gordon approach guarding the world’s best player if that opportunity arises?
“You just make everything you can difficult for him,” Gordon answered. “He’s probably going to score. He’s one of the best in the game, if not the best in the game. But you’ve got to make it as difficult as you can and you’ve got to make him come out and say, ‘Man, that was a tough game.’ “
jrobbins@orlandosentinel.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog and follow him on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins.
