Franz Wagner scored 32 points and the host Orlando Magic held off a late Miami Heat surge to score a 106-105 win on Friday.
Anthony Black came off the Magic bench to contribute 13 points, a team-high six assists and a team-high-tying eight rebounds. Jalen Suggs scored 22 points, his fourth game of 20-plus in the past seven, while doling out five assists.
Orlando’s Paolo Banchero made his return to the lineup from a groin strain that cost him 10 games, and he scored nine points on 3-of-8 shooting in 20 minutes.
Norman Powell’s Heat-leading 28 points came on 9-of-18 shooting from the floor and 8 of 11 at the free-throw line. Bam Adebayo scored 24 points to go with his game-high 15 rebounds. Jaime Jaquez Jr. finished with 16 points off the bench, and Davion Mitchell added 10 points and seven assists.
Orlando never trailed after taking the lead early in the third quarter and expanded the gap to as many as 10 points in the fourth quarter, but Miami closed on an 8-2 run that gave the Heat an opportunity to win.
Powell scored on back-to-back buckets attacking the rim to pull Miami within a point with 51 seconds left. The Heat denied Orlando a clean look in the paint, and after Jaquez’s block of Wendell Carter Jr. led to the Magic winning a jump ball, Desmond Bane’s ensuing 3-point attempt was no good.
Adebayo grabbed the last of his rebounds to give Miami the final possession. A take-foul by Carter set up a baseline inbound pass, and Orlando’s tight defense forced a contested Adebayo 3-point heave that came nowhere close.
Orlando held the normally high-scoring Miami offense to 7-of-19 shooting (36.8%) from 3-point range. The Magic forced 15 turnovers they converted into 19 points.
–Field Level Media
