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Tag: the magic

  • Franz Wagner returns, Magic rally to beat Grizzlies in Berlin

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    (Photo credit: Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images)

    Paolo Banchero collected 26 points and 13 rebounds as the Orlando Magic rallied to a 118-111 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday in the NBA’s first regular-season game in Berlin.

    Banchero made 9 of 16 shots from the floor for the Magic, who overcame a 20-point deficit due in large part to outscoring the Grizzlies by a 26-12 margin in the third quarter. The 12 points represented the fewest Orlando has allowed in a quarter this season.

    The pronounced push provided a happy homecoming for German-born players Franz Wagner, Moe Wagner and Tristan da Silva. Franz Wagner recorded 18 points and nine rebounds in his return from a 16-game absence due to an ankle injury, Moe Wagner had seven points in his second game back from a torn ACL and da Silva added eight points.

    Anthony Black matched Banchero with four 3-pointers and finished with 21 points. Desmond Bane added 13 points in his first game against his former team since being traded from the Grizzlies on July 1.

    Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 30 points for the Grizzlies, who have lost seven of their last nine games heading into the rematch versus the Magic on Sunday in London.

    Santi Aldama contributed 18 points and Cedric Coward added 17 for Memphis, which played without Ja Morant (right calf contusion) for the sixth straight game.

    Aldama sank two free throws to bring the Grizzlies to within two points at 111-109 with 1:46 remaining in the fourth quarter. Franz Wagner responded with three free throws of his own and a floating jumper to essentially seal the win.

    Vince Williams Jr. sank two free throws, a pull-up jumper and two 3-pointers in a 150-second stretch to stake Memphis to a 103-102 lead with 4:29 remaining in the fourth quarter.

    Coward drained a 3-pointer and Jackson sank a short jumper to push Memphis’ advantage to 52-32 early in the second quarter before Orlando went to work. The Magic trimmed the deficit to nine (67-58) at halftime and claimed a 71-70 lead after Black made a 3-pointer early in the third quarter.

    –Field Level Media

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  • Struggling Magic, Warriors try to build on recent victories

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    (Photo credit: John Hefti-Imagn Images)

    Each having stalled a recent slump with a nail-biting victory in its last game, the Orlando Magic and Golden State Warriors seek a winning streak at the other’s expense when they meet Monday night in San Francisco.

    The contest is a rematch of a 121-113 Magic home win Nov. 18 in which superior depth allowed Orlando to overcome a combined 67 points by Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler III.

    Even with Jalen Suggs (bruised hip), Franz Wagner (sprained left ankle) and Moe Wagner (recovering from torn ACL) out of action, the Magic showed off their depth in a 128-127 overtime win at Utah on Saturday. Desmond Bane led six players in double figures with 32 points.

    Meanwhile, the Warriors leaned heavily on the Curry-Butler dynamic to pull out a 119-116 home win over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday, with Curry going for 28 points and Butler 25.

    Suggs, who has missed the first two games of Orlando’s four-city Western swing, might return to face the Warriors. While backcourt mate Bane would love to see that happen, he realizes Orlando has enough quantity in its roster to overcome even key absences.

    ‘Our standards travel,’ Bane assured reporters at the start of the trip in Denver, where the Magic fell 126-115 on Thursday. ‘It doesn’t matter who is playing, who is in the rotation. We have a clear identity and a clear recipe for what it takes to win games. We have to put it out there on the floor regardless of who is playing.’

    The Magic featured a different look in Utah than they had two days earlier in Denver. Jett Howard chipped in with 12 points off the bench against the Nuggets, then watched as fellow reserve Noah Penda put up a 13-point, 12-rebound double-double in Utah.

    The triumph Saturday was just Orlando’s third in its last seven games. The Magic haven’t had a winning streak since a three-gamer bridging November and December.

    The Warriors can relate. Their win over the Suns snapped a three-game skid. Golden State has won consecutive games — a modest two-game run — just once since reeling off three straight victories in the middle of November.

    The most pleasing aspect of Saturday’s win was that it ended not only a losing streak but also a string of close setbacks. They were beaten by a total of 13 points in the three defeats, and entered the Phoenix game with a 5-10 record in ‘clutch’ games, which are defined as contests with no more than a five-point difference in the score at some point of the final five minutes.

    Curry saved 11 of his 28 points for the final five minutes against the Suns in a close game that was sitting at 117-116 for Golden State before Curry’s clinching layup with 5.7 seconds left.

    Butler believes the Warriors, who have lost nine of 14, aren’t far from turning things around.

    ‘Continue to play basketball the right way, I’m a firm believer in that,’ Butler assured the media after Saturday’s win. ‘We play hard, we play for one another, and we’re gonna be just fine. It’s not as bad as it looks — couple possessions here and there, couple turnovers here and there — but that’s just the game. That’s been our season thus far.’

    –Field Level Media

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  • Heat face Magic in opener following pair of 1st-round exits

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    (Photo credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)

    Coming off first-round playoff exits, the Orlando Magic host the rival Miami Heat in Wednesday’s season opener.

    Last season, the Boston Celtics eliminated the seventh-seeded Magic in five games. The Heat won twice in the play-in tournament to become the first No. 10 seed in NBA history to advance, but the Cleveland Cavaliers swept them in the first round, punctuating the result with a 55-point blowout in Game 4.

    The Magic are considered a team on the rise in the Eastern Conference. They finished 41-41 and won a second straight Southeast Division title despite injuries to young stars Paolo Banchero, Jalen Suggs and brothers Franz and Moritz Wagner.

    Moritz Wagner is still out after tearing his ACL last December, but the rest of the Magic make a formidable nucleus. Orlando picked up new starting guard Desmond Bane in an offseason trade with the Memphis Grizzlies.

    ‘Our strength is our depth,’ Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. ‘Our guys are going to play to the level of fatigue and then we have the next group coming in ready to go. I think that’s what we hang our hats on — along with the defense, our depth will be a major strength for us.’

    Orlando had the best scoring defense in the NBA last season, conceding only 105.5 points per game, but struggled mightily from the perimeter. That’s where Bane comes in. He has been a 41% career shooter from beyond the arc with Memphis and averaged 19.2 points last season, as well as 6.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists.

    Miami will be without star guard Tyler Herro, who had foot surgery in mid-September, for an unspecified amount of time. The Heat brought in former Clippers guard Norman Powell to join the established core of Herro, Bam Adebayo and Andrew Wiggins.

    ‘Norman has played a lot of different roles with the teams he has played on and has always been efficient,’ Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. ‘But it always comes down to the right type of fit. You have to be like-minded in your approach in how you view the game and how you compete. He’s won a championship before (with the 2019 Toronto Raptors). He takes it very seriously and he has an edge to him, which we like.’

    One area Miami must focus on is holding onto leads. Last season’s Heat managed to lose 22 games after leading by double digits, including when they coughed up a 25-point lead to Orlando last December.

    That comeback matched the largest in Magic franchise history. Meanwhile, the Heat’s 37-45 final record tied for the worst mark of Spoelstra’s 17-year coaching tenure.

    The Heat and Magic are meeting to open a second straight season. Miami dropped last year’s opener by 19 points but rebounded to split the four-game season series.

    Miami is 20-17 all-time in season openers, while Orlando is 21-15.

    –Field Level Media

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