Orlando Magic coach Steve Clifford believes his defense is talented enough to keep his team in games during the early part of the season until the offense gets more in synch.

Mitchell Robinson and Bobby Portis each had 12 points for the Knicks, who rallied from a 13-point deficit in the third quarter and led early in the fourth.

Gordon provided some words of encouragement to his teammates before they stepped on the floor in the second half, and the pep talk seemed to resonate.

The Magic held the Knicks to five points for almost the first five minutes of the third quarter, then didn’t allow a field goal over the final 4:25 of the game.

When Vucevic reached his 15th point on a layup with 6:50 left in the third quarter, he moved past Jameer Nelson (8,184) on the team’s all-time scoring list.

After going 1-for-13 in Monday’s loss to the Raptors, Vucevic bounced back with an 8-for-17 performance against a Knicks team that features a talented shot blocker in Robinson.