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Magic rain on Heat parade to capture opening night road win

Jason Beede, Orlando Sentinel on

Published in Basketball

MIAMI — On a night that saw 17 lead changes in the opening 24 minutes, the Orlando Magic did nothing but extend their four-point halftime lead and dominate the second half against the Miami Heat.

Behind 33 points from third-year pro Paolo Banchero, Orlando outscored Miami 39-18 in the third quarter to take control of Wednesday’s 116-97 victory at Kaseya Center.

Banchero became the first Magic player to score at least 30 points on opening night since Tracy McGrady in 2002.

But it wasn’t just offense that sparked Orlando’s 19-point road win. The Magic limited Miami’s star duo of Jimmy Butler (three points) and Bam Adebayo (nine) to just 12 points total.

Jamahl Mosley’s squad returns to Orlando for its home-opener Friday against the Brooklyn Nets.

Starting 5

As expected, Banchero, Jalen Suggs, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Franz Wagner, and Wendell Carter Jr. were the first five on the court.

Suggs quickly picked up three fouls in the first quarter and only played five minutes in the first half after sitting the entire second quarter.

But the recently-extended guard came out strong in the third quarter by offering scoring and playmaking to power a 12-0 run out of the break. Suggs totaled 11 points with four assists.

In the meantime, Banchero carried Orlando’s offense early on, totaling 11 points in the opening quarter. He added 11 rebounds in 31 minutes.

His 33 points are the most by a Magic player on opening night since Shaquille O’Neal totaled 42 on Nov. 5, 1993.

Similar to Suggs, Franz Wagner found himself in foul trouble, picking up two in the first quarter. Wagner drilled his first 3-pointer of the season from the left corner in the second quarter and continued to find success from beyond the arc in the second half.

Wagner (23 points) went 3-of-6 from 3 and had four rebounds and four assists.

Carter was active on defense while deflecting passes, recording two steals and racking up 14 rebounds.

Although Caldwell-Pope didn’t fill up the stat sheet, his impact on the floor went beyond the boxscore in his first regular season contest with Orlando.

 

Second unit

With Suggs and Franz Wagner in foul trouble in the first half, Anthony Black and Gary Harris saw significant time on the court filling in for them.

Harris led the bench in scoring with 18 when he sunk five triples in the opening half while helping spread the floor alongside Black, Cole Anthony, Jonathan Isaac and Moe Wagner.

Black (10 points) played alongside Orlando’s starters (outside of Suggs) for an extended period of time in the second quarter. The second-year guard added six rebounds and four assists.

Isaac only saw 11 minutes of action before suffering a sore left hip that kept him sidelined late.

Halftime honor

Mosley said pre-game that Wednesday’s longer-than-usual halftime wouldn’t change Orlando’s routine at the break.

The halftime break was extended 10 minutes (25 total) in order to make room for a Pat Riley court dedication ceremony.

Riley, the long-time president of the Heat, is celebrating 30 years with the franchise.

Up next

Magic vs. Nets

When: 7 p.m. ET , Friday, Kia Center

TV: FanDuel Sports Network

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©2024 Orlando Sentinel. Visit orlandosentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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