ORLANDO, Fla. -- Nikola Vucevic didn't end his puzzling slump, but the center still found a way to win a game for the Orlando Magic.

He finished strong.

Vucevic hit two hook shots and grabbed two key rebounds in the final 1:09 Wednesday night, lifting the Magic to an 89-82 victory over the struggling New Orleans Pelicans.

Vucevic, who is scoring less and playing worse than he has since coming to Orlando in 2012, looked just fine down the stretch, saving the Magic (5-7) from what could have been an embarrassing loss.

The Pelicans (2-10) were without All-Star forward Anthony Davis -- their leading scorer and rebounder -- and clearly out of sync, but they pulled within 84-82 before Vucevic asserted himself once again.

"We're still not playing the way we need to play. I'm not playing well," Vucevic said, "but we just have to keep working at it. We're just not playing good basketball. I'm not sure why, but we'll work through this."

Serge Ibaka and Evan Fournier each scored 16 points to lead the Magic in scoring, while Vucevic had a game-high 14 rebounds, 10 points and three blocked shots.

"He made some big plays down the stretch for us," Magic coach Frank Vogel said of Vucevic. "What I liked was that when his shot wasn't falling, he was impacting the game in other ways. That was big."

The Magic led throughout much of the game. The Pelicans struggled to find any rhythm without Davis, who missed the game due to a strained quad muscle.

Terrence Jones, who started in place of Davis, led the Pelicans with 26 points and nine rebounds. Jones, though, made only one of five shots in the fourth quarter. Reserve Langston Galloway had 15 points, and guard E'Twaun Moore scored 14.

"We had the will to win and fight tonight, but just fell a little short at the end. They made some big plays," Jones said. "We fought with everything we had but just fell a little short. Playing without the best big in the league (Davis), it's tough for us to keep the flow going offensively like when he's out there."

Magic reserve guard D.J. Augustin and forward Damjan Rudez each had 11 points. Rudez hit three of four 3-point attempts.

Pelicans center Omer Asik failed to score but had a team-high 10 rebounds. Magic forward Aaron Gordon had 10 points.

New Orleans rookie Buddy Hield hit back-to-back shots early in the fourth quarter to give the Pelicans a 70-69 advantage, their first lead since the first quarter but their last lead of the game. The Magic rebounded with 3-pointers by Augustin and Rudez and never trailed again.

"We don't gain anything from this because it's still a loss," New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry said. "But I love the way we competed out there tonight. We just fell short at the end."

Gordon hit a 3-pointer for the 84-79 Magic lead with 4:19 remaining. Vucevic hit back-to-back baskets in the closing 69 seconds to ice the win.

Jones scored 12 points in the third quarter when he sparked a New Orleans comeback, cutting the deficit from 14 points to one. Dante Cunningham hit a 3-pointer to pull the Pelicans within 62-61.

The Magic, who made just 5 of 26 shots from the field in the third quarter, still led 65-63 going into the fourth.

Orlando led 52-40 at intermission, riding a flurry of 3-pointers in the second quarter. Ibaka had 12 points and Fournier 10 before halftime. Both hit two of their three 3-point attempts in the first half.

The Magic led by as many as 15 points in the second quarter when they made 6 of 9 from 3-point range. Jones had 11 points and four rebounds in the first half.

The Pelicans were out of sync early, making just 14 of 43 shots from the floor (32.6 percent) and committing nine turnovers.

NOTES: Magic C Nikola Vucevic, who led the Magic in scoring in each of the past two seasons, is averaging just 10.9 points, his lowest average since he joined the team in 2012. In the past four games, he made just 10 of 44 shots from the field. "It's never happened to me that I shoot so poorly from the field," he said. ... Pelicans PG Jrue Holiday is expected to make his season debut Friday at home against the Trail Blazers. Holiday has been on indefinite leave while caring for his seriously ill wife, former U.S. women's national soccer team star Lauren Holiday, and their newborn daughter. ... Pelicans G E'Twaun Moore, who played for the Magic last season, returned Wednesday after sitting out Monday night with a toe injury.