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Orlando Magic Rout Atlanta Hawks 135-124 in Grudge Match Wednesday

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FILE - Atlanta's Trae Young attempts a layup against Orlando defense during the Magic's match against the Hawks at Amway Center February 16, 2022. (Harry Castiblanco/Florida National News file photo)
FILE - Atlanta's Trae Young attempts a layup against Orlando defense during the Magic's match against the Hawks at Amway Center February 16, 2022. (Harry Castiblanco/Florida National News file photo)

ORLANDO, Fla. (FNN) – The Magic fell to the Hawks when they came to Orlando last week, and they came into Wednesday’s rematch ready to get revenge, clocking a whopping 50 points in the first quarter. First. Quarter.

Atlanta Hawks head coach acknowledged his team’s win here last time, but said during the pregame press conference Wednesday that in order to win, Atlanta will have to “stay in front of them [the Magic].” He noted that the Magic have a lot of tall players, and that they’re a young and aggressive team.

The Magic proved that.

 

First Half

Orlando’s starting five included the Wagner brothers (both Franz and Moritz), Bol Bol, Paolo Banchero, and Markelle Fultz. Atlanta’s starting five: Trae Young, Clint Capela, AJ Griffin, De’Andre Hunter and Jalen Johnson.

Trae Young and Clint Capela gave the same solid offensive performance expected of them for Atlanta, and Young was the headache for Orlando at the foul line. Young led with eight points and two assists while Capela followed with four points and one assist.

However, for Orlando’s part, assists were the name of the game–making 12 compared to Atlanta’s four–and usually through Bol, Banchero, Fultz, and Terrence Ross off the bench to either Franz Wagner, Cole Anthony (also off the bench), or one another.

Franz Wagner led the Orlando scoring in the first quarter with 11 points and contributed two assists. Anthony followed, contributing eight points off the bench with two rebounds and two assists.

The Magic ended the first quarter leading 50-22, making this only the ninth time in NBA history that a time scored 50 points in the first quarter. The last time it happened was when the Portland Trail Blazers scored 50 against the Houston Rockets on May 10, 2021.

The Magic’s momentum slowed slightly in the second quarter, and they fouled more, sending Atlanta to the line several times. In the first quarter it was the other way around, with the Magic shooting a total of 13 free throws compared to the Hawks’ seven. Second quarter, the Hawks went to the line for a total of eight free throws to the Magic’s six, and made all eight compared to Orlando’s 66.7 percent (4-of-6).

The overall scoring shifted drastically too. The Hawks scored 40 points in the second quarter to the Magic’s 26 points, mostly thanks to De’Andre Hunter who led with 20 points by himself. He was 6-of-9 on field goals, 4-of-5 on threes, and made all four of his free throws.

For Orlando’s part, they made a few explosive plays to maintain their quickly shrinking lead. The Amway Center crowd erupted in cheers with Bol Bol’s quick thinking dunk in the second quarter. He ran down the right side of the court then spun around and ran straight into the paint for the dunk. Markelle Fultz followed with a dunk of his own, prompting an Atlanta Hawks timeout. Banchero led Orlando’s scoring in the second quarter with eight points while Franz Wagner followed, contributing another four points.

The Magic led 76-62 at halftime.

 

Second Half

Orlando’s momentum seemed to slow down a little more in the third quarter as well, but managed to cross the 100-point mark late in the quarter. With less then 1.5 minutes left in the quarter, they led 102-93.

The Hawks outscored the Magic in the third, netting 32 points to Orlando’s 29. Clint Capela carried the Hawks in the third, leading with 10 points and contributing three rebounds and one assist.

That said, the Magic made a strong quarter-ending play: Atlanta’s Onyeka Okongwu had the ball, but Orlando’s Admiral Schofield slapped it out of his hand, causing Cole Anthony and a couple of others to battle for the ball. Ultimately Anthony retrieved the ball and passed it to Ross, who landed the three-pointer right at the buzzer, giving the Magic a 105-94 lead going into the fourth quarter.

With 8:10 left in the fourth, Cole Anthony repeated what he did in Orlando’s last match: He successfully swished a field goal while falling on his back, the foul courtesy of Trae Young. His play was only the third successful shot in the fourth quarter by either team at that point.

By game’s end, Young and Okungwu got double doubles for Atlanta with 19 points and 16 assists; and 15 points and 11 rebounds, respectively. Hunter led Atlanta with a game high 25 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Orlando’s game-end highlight? Eight of their ten slated players scored in the double digits on the night. Franz Wagner led with 24 points, followed by Bol with 21 points and Banchero with 20 points.

The Magic hung onto the lead despite the Hawks shrinking the gap, ending with a final score of 135-124.

 

Orlando Magic Postgame Press Conference

Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley, Markelle Fultz and Bol Bol talked with the media postgame.

 

 

The Orlando Magic hit the road for four games (including another match against the Hawks Monday night) before returning home to host the San Antonio Spurs Friday, December 23, 2022 at 7pm ET.

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Mellissa Thomas is Editor for Florida National News. | mellissa.thomas@floridanationalnews.com

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NBA

Orlando Magic Rally Late to Beat Washington Wizards 122-112

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Moritz Wagner dunks the ball in the second quarter for the Orlando Magic during their match against the Washington Wizards at Amway Center Tuesday, March 21, 2023. Photo: Harry Castiblanco/Florida National News.
Moritz Wagner dunks the ball in the second quarter for the Orlando Magic during their match against the Washington Wizards at Amway Center Tuesday, March 21, 2023. Photo: Harry Castiblanco/Florida National News.

ORLANDO, Fla. (FNN) – The Orlando Magic had a lot of ground to make up for at home after their long road run, and the Washington Wizards didn’t make it easy on them–their defense greatly frustrated the Magic.

 

First Half

The Wizards led most of the first quarter, especially since the Magic made none of their three-pointers…until Moritz Wagner came in off the bench with just over two minutes left in the first. With a couple of shots, he switched the lead to Orlando by a single point at the end of the first quarter, 26-25.

Cole Anthony got a nice and-1 after his rebound from a failed Wizard free throw. Bradley Beal fouled him as he ran into the paint, but Anthony’s fadeaway shot was successful as he fell to the floor.

In the second quarter the Wizards regained the lead, but like in the first quarter, the Magic rallied near the end of the quarter. When Gary Harris, Markelle Fultz and the other Wagner, Franz, got back on the court, the Magic began sinking more shots.

Mo Wagner contributed 11 points in the first two quarters, while Franz, Harris and Anthony each followed with 10 points. The Magic also made up for their three-pointer deficit in second quarter. They were seven of 17 (41.2 percent) on threes in the first half compared to the Wizards’ five of 15 (33.3 percent) and were 23 of 43 on field goals (53.5 percent) compared to the Wizards’ 21 of 40 (52.5 percent).

For Washington, Deni Avdija and Monte Morris led the scoring with 12 points each; Kristaps Porzingis followed with 11 points.

The Magic secured a four-point lead heading into halftime, 60-56.

 

Second Half

The Magic ended third quarter one point behind, 88-87.

The Magic brought the fire in the fourth quarter, getting on a run between Markelle Fultz, Wendell Carter Jr. and Paolo Banchero, who went to the free throw line three times late in the fourth and nailed every free throw. The highlight play of the second half happened within the final minute of the game: Banchero had pressure on him and made an ugly fadeaway baseline three-pointer…and sank it in.

The most critical hit of all was Bradley Beal fouling out of the game, which dealt a huge blow to the Wizards’ offense in the final stretch. Porzingis tried to pick up the slack, but the Magic saw the blood in the water and piled on the pressure, closing out the game with a 10-point win, 122-112.

For the night, Gary Harris led in scoring for the Magic with 22 points, going six for nine on three pointers and seven for 10 on field goals. Franz Wagner followed with 20 points with four rebounds and six assists. Banchero contributed 18 points and was six of six on free throws. Fultz contributed 17 points with five rebounds and five assists.

For the Wizards, Porzingis led the scoring by far, with 30 total points, six rebounds and three assists. Beal followed with 16 points, five rebounds and seven assists.

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Mellissa Thomas is Editor for Florida National News. | mellissa.thomas@floridanationalnews.com

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NBA

Orlando Magic to induct Dennis Scott into their Hall of Fame March 23

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Orlando, FL – The Orlando Magic will induct Dennis Scott into their Hall of Fame on Thursday, March 23 at 3:45 p.m. in Amway Center, near the Nutrilite Magic Fan Experience.** Scott will become the 12th member of the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame.

In addition to the induction ceremony, Scott will be honored that night during Orlando’s game vs. New York. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. and tickets are available through OrlandoMagic.com or by calling 1-800-4-NBATIX.

“Dennis (Scott) still remains one of the elite, long-range shooters in both Orlando Magic and NBA history,” said Martins. “His ability to shoot from beyond the three-point arc was a major key to our success during his time in Orlando and his records stand to this day. We are proud to make Dennis the next inductee into the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame.”

Originally selected in the first round (fourth overall) of the 1990 NBA Draft by Orlando, Scott played seven seasons with the Magic from 1990-97. He played in 446 regular season games (322 starts) with Orlando, averaging 14.8 ppg., 3.1 rpg. and 2.3 apg. in 30.7 minpg., while shooting .403 (981-2,432) from three-point range.

During the 1995-96 campaign, Scott set a then-NBA single season-record with 267 three-pointers made, a standard that lasted for ten years. The 267 three-pointers made remains the franchise record for most made in a season. On April 18, 1996 vs. Atlanta, Scott connected on 11 three-pointers, breaking the then-NBA single game-record, a mark that lasted for almost seven seasons. The 11 three-pointers made also remains the franchise record for most made in a game.

Scott also appeared in 41 playoff games (31 starts) with Orlando, averaging 12.2 ppg., 3.0 rpg. and 1.9 apg. in 33.8 minpg., while shooting .364 (92-253) from three-point range. On May 25, 1995 vs. Indiana, he made seven three-pointers during Game #2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, setting a franchise playoff-record that still stands today. Scott helped the Magic reach the 1995 NBA Finals.

Scott remains the Orlando Magic all-time leader in three-pointers made with 981. Entering this season, he also ranks among the franchise’s all-time leaders in three-point field goals attempted (second, 2,432), field goals attempted (seventh, 5,737), games played (eighth, 446), steals (eighth, 429), points scored (tenth, 6,603), field goals made (tenth, 2,421) and minutes played (tenth, 13,692).

The Orlando Magic unveiled its inaugural Hall of Fame class on April 9, 2014 with the first two inductees, Magic co-founder Pat Williams and the team’s first-ever draft pick and current community ambassador, Nick Anderson. Scott also joins Shaquille O’Neal (2015), the late Rich DeVos (2016), Anfernee Hardaway (2017), Jimmy Hewitt (2017), Tracy McGrady (2018), David Steele (2019), Darrell Armstrong (2020), John Gabriel (2022) and Brian Hill (2022) in the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame.

The Orlando Magic Hall of Fame honors and celebrates the great players, coaches and executives who have had a major impact during the team’s illustrious 34-year history. It bridges the past with the future of Magic basketball, and the exhibit, located in Amway Center on the terrace level near Nutrilite Magic Fan Experience, provides Magic fans an opportunity to learn some Magic history while in the building. The inductees are selected based on their overall on and off the court contributions to the team and organization, years of service, impact in the community and general character of the individual.

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Jonathan Isaac to Miss Remainder of 2022-23 Regular Season Due to Another Injury

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FILE - Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac plays during the Orlando Magic vs. New York Knicks match at Amway Center Tuesday, February 7, 2023. (Shreyank Tripathi/Florida National News file photo)
FILE - Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac plays during the Orlando Magic vs. New York Knicks match at Amway Center Tuesday, February 7, 2023. (Harry Castiblanco/Florida National News file photo)

ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac underwent surgery on Friday morning to repair a torn left adductor muscle and will miss the remainder of the 2022-23 regular season. An MRI conducted Wednesday revealed the injury, after he felt discomfort following Tuesday’s practice in Milwaukee.

“Our thoughts are with Jonathan, whose fortitude in dealing with adversity is unique,” said Orlando Magic President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman. “Jonathan has worked extremely hard to return to the court this season and has demonstrated his impact on our team. We will be by his side as he focuses on the work ahead.”

Isaac (6’10”, 230, 10/3/97) played in 11 games this season, averaging 5.0 ppg., 4.0 rpg. and 1.27 stlpg. in 11.3 minpg.

Originally selected in the first round (sixth overall) of the 2017 NBA Draft by Orlando, Isaac has appeared in 147 career NBA regular season games (106 starts), all with the Magic, averaging 9.0 ppg., 5.3 rpg., 1.0 apg., 1.43 blkpg. and 1.08 stlpg. in 24.7 minpg. He has also played and started in five career playoff outings, averaging 6.6 ppg., 6.2 rpg. and 1.00 blkpg. in 27.3 minpg.

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