Desmond Bane scored 27 points, Anthony Black had 26, Goga Bitadze had a double-double and the host Orlando Magic defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 128-118 on Sunday.
Bitadze finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds, Paolo Banchero has 23 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and backup Tristan da Silva added 16 points for the Magic, who outscored the Pelicans 37-20 in the fourth quarter.
Zion Williamson scored 22, Trey Murphy III and Jordan Poole scored 21 each, Jeremiah Fears had 16, Karlo Matkovic added 11 and Derik Queen 10 for the Pelicans, who lost for the 10th time in 11 games.
Williamson made a dunk to start the third-quarter scoring and give the Pelicans a three-point lead before Noah Penda’s 3-pointer tied the score at 63. Murphy’s 3-pointer broke the tie and started a 16-6 run that gave New Orleans a 79-69 lead.
Black’s 3-pointer pulled Orlando within five points midway through the period, but Murphy had a 3-pointer and a three-point play and Poole added a 3-pointer for a 92-81 lead.
The Pelicans led by 11 a second time before da Silva made two 3-pointers to help the Magic trim the lead to 98-91 at the end of the third quarter.
Moritz Wagner converted a three-point play to start the fourth-quarter scoring and trim the lead to four, but New Orleans rebuilt it to nine. Black scored seven straight Orlando points and Bane’s layup gave the Magic a 113-112 lead.
Fears’ 3-pointer put the Pelicans on top briefly before Orlando scored seven straight for a five-point lead.
Bane scored five points and Penda made a 3-pointer as Orlando took a 12-0 lead. Murphy made a layup for New Orleans’ first points more than three minutes into the game.
Seven Pelicans scored, including Matkovic, whose layup tied the score at 26 at the end of the first quarter.
Poole made two 3-pointers to help the Pelicans take their first lead, 34-31. The score was tied twice and the lead changed hands seven times, the last of which came when Williamson’s layup gave New Orleans a 59-58 halftime lead.
–Field Level Media
