The Orlando Magic defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 129-101 Thursday night at the Kia Center. The Magic shot 52.9% from three, their highest mark in the 2025-26 season. Orlando has now won eight of their last 11 games after starting the season off with a 1-4 record.
Jalen Suggs scored a season-high 23 points with five threes, while James Harden dropped a game-high 31 points in 31 minutes for LA. The Clippers turned the ball over 21 times, allowing for the Magic to score 33 points off turnovers. These turnovers contributed to Orlando’s 41 fast-break points, the second-most in a game in franchise history.
Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said he was impressed by the three-point shooting and defense in the contest. “I think we do a great job of trying to find that balance,” Mosley said. “A lot of those [threes] came in transition where we got the stops, guys were feet-set threes. We threw it ahead and they stepped into their shot.
Quarter-by-quarter flow
First quarter:
The Magic were starting the game without star forward Paolo Banchero for the fourth-straight game after his groin injury, while the Clippers were without forward Kawhi Leonard and guard Bradley Beal.
In the first six minutes, the teams combined to shoot 8/23 from the field and 1/8 from three, with the lone make coming from Suggs. Suggs was doing most of the work for Orlando early, as in one sequence, he assisted a shot, stole the ball and scored an easy layup.
“I thought Jalen set the tone for us today on both sides of the floor and had a great energy about him all night,” Magic forward Franz Wagner said. “That sets the tone for the rest of the group. He’s the first line of defense a lot of the times, so everybody else sees that energy and is kind of feeding off of that.”
Despite his heroics, LA was only down three with three minutes to go in the quarter. But an unlikely hero for the Magic in veteran defensive forward Jonathan Isaac scored a season-high nine points in only three minutes. Mainly because of his scoring, Orlando had a six point lead after the first quarter.
Second quarter:
The first four minutes start to the second was sloppy, as both teams combined for four turnovers and matched each other in scoring. However, a 7-0 run by the Clippers in two minutes shrunk the Magic lead to one.
After a Bogdan Bogdanovic foul, Suggs threw an alley-oop to Anthony Black, which sparked an 8-0 run of their own. Tristan da Silva continued his good shooting from three, as he hit back-to-back threes after back-to-back turnovers by LA, forcing a timeout. On the season, da Silva is shooting 41.5% from behind the arc.
In the final four minutes of the quarter, Harden scored 11 points for the Clippers while Suggs scored seven for the Magic, with his last basket of the half giving them a 61-49 lead. Five of Harden’s points in that run came from the free throw line and finished 10/12 on FTA in the half.
“[Harden]’s a difficult cover,” Mosley said. “He’s a Hall of Famer. The way he’s able to score, the way he’s able to do what he does, you’re not stopping him. I’m probably losing my mind too much on the referees during the game, but that’s what he does.”
Third quarter:
Coming out of halftime, Orlando grew their lead to 16 points behind six points from Wagner and another Suggs three. But LA fought back, as they went on an 8-3 run halfway through the quarter that forced a timeout. John Collins had three points during the stretch and Harden added another three.
Following their timeout, the Magic went on an 8-2 run, capped off by a diving steal by Suggs that led to an alley-oop to Goga Bitadze.
“[Suggs was] doing what he does,” Mosley said. “I think that’s part of what makes Jalen Jalen. His ability to do all of the little things, putting his body on the line for those moments, making all of those hustle plays. He’s going for blocks on seven-footers coming down the lane, but those are big plays for us.
The Clippers answered with two Bogdanovic threes, but Black scored four points and a Jett Howard three helped the Magic retain a 17 point lead heading into the final quarter of play.
Fourth Quarter:
Orlando started the final quarter with a 12-3 run in the first two minutes of the fourth. Desmond Bane had two made threes, while Wendell Carter Jr. and Black each had one, giving the Magic a 26 point lead. However, an 8-0 run by the Clippers from Cam Christie and Ivica Zubac shrunk the lead down to 18.
Wagner and da Silva fueled a 6-0 run in response, but Clippers guard Kobe Brown answered with a 6-0 run of his own before the Magic took their starters off the court with four minutes to play. Bitadze scored six points in that span, while two-way guard Jamal Cain scored his first five points with Orlando. Rookie guard Jase Richardson closed the game with a three, giving Orlando their second-largest margin of victory on the season.
Next Up:
The Magic will host their last game of the three-game homestand on Saturday against the New York Knicks. Orlando has already defeated New York this season after a win in Madison Square Garden in early November. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. on Nov. 22.