Desmond Bane scored 23 points in his Orlando debut and Wendell Carter Jr. had a clutch rebound and sank two clinching free throws to lift the Magic past visiting the Miami Heat 125-121 on Wednesday in the season opener for both teams.
With the score tied at 119 and just under a minute to play, Jalen Suggs scored on a twisting turnaround jumper in the lane to put the Magic ahead.
On the next possession, Miami had two good looks at a go-ahead 3-pointer, but both were off target and Orlando got the rebound. Bane then made two free throws to put the Magic up by four with 37.3 seconds left.
Miami answered with a soaring dunk by Norman Powell with 30.5 seconds to go. Orlando milked the clock with Bane passing the ball off to Paolo Banchero, who drove to the basket but missed the shot. Carter came up with the rebound, was fouled and made two free throws to seal it with 6.1 remaining.
The game featured 10 lead changes and 13 ties.
Bane, who came to Orlando from the Memphis Grizzlies in an offseason trade, went 3-for-7 from 3-point range and was 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. Franz Wagner and Banchero each had 24 points for the Magic. Tristan da Silva added 16, and Suggs scored 14.
Powell, making his Heat debut, scored a game-high 28 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Andrew Wiggins put up 18 points for the Heat, who were missing starter Tyler Herro due to a foot injury. Miami’s Davion Mitchell (16 points, 12 assists) and Bam Adebayo (15 points, 12 rebounds) each had a double-double.
Miami made six treys in the first eight minutes of the game — two each by Powell and Nikola Jovic — to go up 29-23. The Heat led by as much as 12 points (the biggest lead for either team) in the first quarter, but Orlando slowly closed the gap.
Da Silva scored on a Euro-step and added two free throws to tie the score at 50 with 8:10 left in the half. Wagner drained a 3-pointer the Magic’s next time down the floor to give the hosts a 53-50 lead, their first lead since it was 2-0.
Miami rallied to knot the score at 60, but Wagner and Bane combined for nine points in the last 2:46 to give Orlando a 69-65 lead at half.
–Field Level Media
