The Magic beat the Raptors 121-114 in Toronto two nights after losing there 99-129. They gave up a 9-0 run early in the fourth, fell behind 100-102 and won it with a five-man group that held on through the final minutes.
Orlando took Toronto's best punch and still closed.
Orlando led after every quarter, 31-27, 64-55 and 95-88, and got its lead up to 12 in the third. Then Toronto ran off nine straight between 10:26 and 8:38 of the fourth, turning 100-93 into a 100-102 deficit. That was the moment the 30-point loss could have repeated itself. Instead Sean Sweeney finished with Desmond Bane, Franz Wagner, Jase Richardson, da Silva and Wendell Carter Jr., and that group got the lead back. Da Silva led Orlando with 8 fourth-quarter points. Bane made both free throws at 0:16 for 121-112, and Scottie Barnes ended it with an offensive foul, his sixth.
Bane and Wagner played like the top two scorers this lineup needs.
Bane gets an A: 28 points, 6-12 3P and 6-6 FT, after averaging 14.5 points on 27.8 percent from deep last season. Wagner gets an A-minus for 26 points, 11 assists and 8-9 FT at +13. His four turnovers matched Bane's, so ball security is still a work in progress, but with Paolo Banchero out until an estimated November 22, this is the load the two of them have to carry.
Richardson's value showed up everywhere except the scoring column.
Richardson scored only 4 points, but he posted +26 in 33 minutes with 6 rebounds and 2 steals, the best swing of anyone in the game. For a 21-year-old guard, earning closing minutes because of defense and rebounding is the right kind of progress. Anthony Black earns a B-plus: 17 points on 5-8 shooting and 10 assists against 1 turnover, a direct answer to the pressure that buried Orlando two nights earlier. Carter added 20 points and 7 rebounds at +17.
The bench is still the soft spot in the build.
Starters scored 95 of the 121. Jamal Cain went 5-5 for 13 points and still finished -13 in 15 minutes, and Alex Morales was -6 in 9. Barnes scored 41 on 19-34 shooting, and Orlando had no reserve who could slow him. Jalen Suggs and Jonathan Isaac carry estimated return dates of November 10, so the second unit gets no help for a while.
Who led the Magic in their win at Toronto on October 30?
Desmond Bane scored 28 points, making 6 of 12 threes. Franz Wagner added 26 points and 11 assists.
Where do the Magic stand after beating the Raptors?
Orlando is 2-3 and seeded ninth, half a game behind the sixth-place Hawks. The Magic host the Celtics on November 1 and the Wizards on November 2, then head out to Phoenix and Golden State.
