"Even in defeat, even after missing one key free throw, Gilbert Arenas played one of his better quarters as a member of the Orlando Magic.

Arenas played the entire fourth quarter of the team's 100-97 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday.

His stat line wasn't too eye-catching — he had seven points on 3-of-6 shooting, three assists and one turnover — but in this case, stats don't tell the entire story.

He served as a sparkplug as the Magic clawed back from a 14-point deficit to tie the game 96-96 with 2:15 left in regulation.

Arenas was at his most dangerous when he drove toward the basket and kicked to wide-open shooters at the 3-point line. The tactic nearly gave the Magic a comeback win, but Ryan Anderson and Hedo Turkoglu each missed big 3s in the game's final two minutes.

"He was playing well," coach Stan Van Gundy said. "I just thought he was making good plays. We were getting his post-up down on [Grizzlies PG Mike] Conley and he was scoring and making plays to open people. Look, we made a lot of good plays and we got two absolutely wide-open shots."