Franz Wagner put up a season-high 33 points, Desmond Bane and Wendell Carter Jr. contributed key hoops to two lead-stretching runs in the second half and the Orlando Magic snapped a four-game losing streak with a 107-100 road triumph over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday.
Anthony Black chipped in with 26 points and led an inspired defensive effort for the Magic, who had opened a four-game Western swing with losses to the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors.
Zach LaVine recorded 31 points and Darius Acuff Jr. had 29 for the Kings, who dropped a fourth in a row on a night when Domantas Sabonis went scoreless for the first time in 596 games.
The Magic used two bursts — one just past the midpoint of the third quarter, the other bridging the third and fourth periods — to turn a three-point game into a double-digit margin for much of the fourth quarter.
A Bane 3-pointer triggered the initial pull-away, a 9-0 spurt that allowed Orlando to build a 77-65 advantage with 3:13 left in the third quarter.
The lead was six before Black tipped in a Nikola Vucevic miss with 3.3 seconds left in the third. Carter’s dunk capped an 8-2 run of point-blank hoops to open the fourth period and push the Magic into a commanding position at 92-78 with just 8:02 remaining.
The 100 points allowed were a season best for Orlando.
Wagner produced his second 30-plus-point effort in a row, having gone for an even 30 in Orlando’s loss at Golden State on Saturday. On Tuesday, he found time for seven rebounds and a team-high seven assists.
Black collected four steals, helping the Magic force 21 Sacramento turnovers that the guests turned into 33 points.
Bane finished with 15 points, 12 coming on four 3-pointers, while Carter had a team-high 11 rebounds to go with eight points and three blocks.
Sabonis had been listed as questionable for the game due to a sore left knee that kept him out of Sacramento’s home loss to the Miami Heat on Sunday. He returned to start against the Magic, then played 24 of the game’s first 40 minutes, but he sat the final 8:02.
The last time he hadn’t scored a point was three games from the end of his rookie season for the Oklahoma City Thunder in April 2017, when he was shut out by the Denver Nuggets in 13 minutes off the bench.
De’Andre Hunter had 15 points, Keegan Murray 11 and Precious Achiuwa 10 for the Kings, whose 100 points were the team’s second fewest this season. Sacramento reserve Dylan Cardwell was the game’s leading rebounder with 12.
–Field Level Media
