Rookie Aaron Gordon plays beyond his years in eye-opening night for Magic

ORLANDO, Fla. -- After Aaron Gordon was taken by the Orlando Magic with the fourth pick in the draft barely more than four months ago, he chose 00 as his uniform number because he said it represents "how wide I want the fans' eyes to be."

On Friday night, those eyes were officially opened. Showing a degree of poise well beyond his 19 years, the NBA's youngest player was a force during the fourth quarter and overtime as the Magic pulled away to a 112-103 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Of the five Magic players who finished with 10 or more points, the oldest was center Nikola Vucevic, who turned all of 24 two weeks ago. So it's not as if Gordon has to prove himself to a locker room full of grizzled veterans who have been around the block and then some.

But after playing just seven minutes in two of the previous three games and not being used much through three quarters by coach Jacque Vaughn, the forward from Arizona showed energy that came out of nowhere.

"That's why they drafted me," Gordon said. "They know what I can do. A lack of playing time isn't going to make play any less hard or have any less energy. So my number was called, and I was ready to go."

Vaughn was ready to begin the extra five-minute period with Channing Frye on the floor instead of Gordon before changing his mind. Good move, considering overtime began with him turning a steal by Vucevic into a three-point play.

"His energy --€“ it was contagious tonight," Vaughn said of Gordon. "His defense, his ability to make the right play, to kind of stay in the moment whether it was on a breakaway or at the end of the shot clock ... He did a great job of just being ready."

Gordon averaged fewer than 15 minutes a game during the Magic's 1-4 start and had gotten to the free-throw line just once. Given that he was a horrid 42.2-percent shooter in his one year of college ball, perhaps that wasn't such a bad thing.

But everything that left his hands against the Timberwolves seemed to have the right touch, whether it was his three foul shots or his 3-pointer off an assist from Tobias Harris with 1:35 to go that all but wrapped up the victory.

"Oh, man, it felt great," he said of the shot which put the Magic up 106-99. "There was no doubt in my mind that it was going in."

Gordon ended up with 17 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots in 22 minutes. Fellow rookie Elfrid Payton had 15 points and committed just one turnover in 39 minutes at point guard.

Those numbers were enough to win Harris' admiration.

"There are times I look at them like they've been four, five years in the NBA," he said. "I'm getting on them like they should know everything, and sometimes I have to take a step back and say, 'This kid's only 19 years old' or 'This kid's in his first year.'"

"Both of those guys have been extremely open to the idea of working on their games," Vaughn said. "That's how you get better. There's no secret to it. They both believe that. They both work extremely hard. And I don't see that changing anytime soon. At least I hope not."

How much time Gordon will get on the Magic's three-game road trip which begins Sunday at Brooklyn is anybody's guess. They've invested quite a bit of money in Frye, and there's also the possibility of Kyle O'Quinn coming off the inactive list for the first time since spraining his left ankle in the season opener.

For one night, the kid was more than all right. Just don't make his age that much of an issue.

"I don't think about it too much," Gordon said. "As much as it is a compliment, it's also a crutch: 'Oh, he's only 19, don't worry about it.' I don't like to hear that. It goes both ways, so you might as well play basketball like I know how to play."

Added Vaughn: "He works extremely hard. He's a very intelligent individual, and I think that's the thing as far as our relationship --€“ my ability to talk with him and explain to him when he's playing, why he's playing, what he needs to work on, how this NBA thing works."

You can follow Ken Hornack on Twitter @HornackFSFla or email him at khornack32176@gmail.com.