The Orlando Magic defeated the Miami Heat 117-108 at the Kia Center on Tuesday. The victory is Orlando’s third against their in-state rival on the season and their first NBA Cup Knockout Round victory in franchise history.
Desmond Bane tied his Magic career high with 37 points in the win, while Norman Powell led the Heat with 21. Bane has scored exactly 37 in three of the last six contests.
The Heat started the game on fire, opening up a 15-0 run in the first three minutes. Anthony Black made a layup to open the scoring for Orlando. However, a Norman Powell three gave Miami a 16-point lead, their largest for the remainder of the game.
“[Miami] jumped on us early, give them credit,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “They came out, hit us in the mouth right away.”
Orlando would slowly chip away at Miami’s lead for the rest of the half. Wendell Carter Jr. made a 14-foot jumper with four minutes left in the second quarter, giving the Magic their first lead of the game.
“I just thought our spirit was in the right spot,” Bane said. “I don’t think anybody really hung their head. Understood that we had to get back to our identity: smash mouth basketball on both sides of the floor. Once we started playing that way, everything started turning for us.”
The two teams would trade blows until the end the half, with Miami holding onto a one-point lead after two quarters.
To start the second half, it was much the same, as the teams continued to trade buckets for the first four minutes. Bane hit a two pointer to give the Magic a 71-69 lead with eight minutes left in the third, a lead Orlando held until the end of the game.
“We just said it in the locker room: you find a way, whatever it looks like,” Mosley said. “You find a way to win games, and that’s the mark of this Magic team. They pull for one another, they’re never out of it, and they’re just going to keep fighting for one another as that game goes on. They never [get] rattled. They just found a way, and then they sat down and guarded. That was the big key too for us.”
Bane scored 25 of his points in the second half, shooting 4-of-5 from three in that span. In their last matchup against Miami on Friday, Bane shot just 1-of-8 from deep and finished with only five points.
On the night, the Magic shot 46.9% from three, their third-highest mark of the season. Miami’s 24.2% from beyond the arc was their second-worst percentage of the season.
The Magic improved to 15-10 after the contest, with their home record rising to 10-4 on the season. The Heat drop to 4-8 on the road and 14-11 on the year.
“Our fans are fantastic,” Mosley said. “They are absolutely awesome. The way they willed us to get this game done. You hear in the beginning of the game some Miami chants, and then the Orlando Magic chant started to go and our guys get going with that. I don’t think our fans really realize how important they are to us on this home court and what they mean to this group of players and coaches as well.”
Next up:
The Magic travel to Las Vegas to play in the NBA Cup Semifinals against the New York Knicks on Saturday. Orlando leads the season series 2-1, but New York beat them last Sunday.
“It’s always good when you get to play for something,” Paolo Banchero said. “It ups the intensity, simulates the playoffs a little bit early in the season, so yeah, fun environment.”
Tip-off against the Knicks is set for 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 13.