Desmond Bane hit a 3-pointer from the right side as time expired, giving the Orlando Magic a 115-112 victory over the visiting Portland Trail Blazers on Monday.
Paolo Banchero led Orlando with 28 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Bane chipped in 22 points and seven assists as the Magic rallied after squandering a nine-point lead in the final 2:14. Franz Wagner and Wendell Carter Jr. each had 19 points and nine boards for Orlando, which earned its fourth win in six tries.
Shaedon Sharpe’s 31 points paced Portland, while Deni Avdija had 27 and Jerami Grant contributed 17. Jrue Holiday chipped in 13 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Trail Blazers, who have dropped three of their past four contests.
After Bane’s layup gave the Magic a 110-101 edge, Avdija scored seven straight points, trimming the margin to two with 46.5 seconds remaining. Bane then missed a mid-range jumper before Sharpe split a pair of free throws, leaving Portland’s deficit at one.
On the other end, Banchero missed both free throws with 11 seconds left. Following Portland’s timeout, Grant completed a three-point play to give the Trail Blazers a 112-110 edge.
Banchero then knotted the score on a driving layup with five seconds left, and he was fouled. However, he missed the subsequent free-throw attempt.
After Holiday turned the ball over on the ensuing play with 1.2 seconds left, Orlando called timeout. Wagner threw the inbound pass to Bane, who sank the game-winner.
After leading 59-56 at halftime, Orlando doubled the margin on Carter’s triple with 7:36 left in the third. Jett Howard capped a 9-0 Magic run that extended the lead to 87-73 with 28 seconds remaining in the third. Sharpe’s 3-pointer snapped a four-plus-minute stretch without a made field goal for the Trail Blazers, and the visitors trailed by 11 entering the fourth.
At the 6:48 mark of the final quarter, Robert Williams III’s putback dunk reduced the Magic’s lead 100-93. After Anthony Black’s free throws pushed the lead to nine, Avdija’s layup jumpstarted a 7-0 Portland spurt, cutting the deficit to two.
Black’s dunk, Wagner’s mid-range jumper and Banchero’s free throws then gave Orlando an eight-point cushion with 2:54 remaining.
–Field Level Media
