The Orlando Magic had a brief window to flip this game, and for a second it looked like they might. Franz Wagner sparked the opening of the second half with a deflection and a transition layup.
Anthony Black followed with another steal and another easy basket. Suddenly the deficit was down to eight, and the Magic’s defense finally had some bite.
Then it all slipped away again.
What followed was the same messy, mistake-heavy basketball that has defined Orlando’s sluggish 2-6 start, and the Phoenix Suns made sure the Magic paid for every lapse. Orlando fell 117-103 after turning it over 25 times for 36 Phoenix points, missing 11 free throws, and watching the game tilt into a 30-point hole before a late fourth-quarter push trimmed the margin to 13.
The numbers tell the story, but the sequence was even uglier. Orlando opened the night with nine first-quarter turnovers and 12 in the first half, while also missing nine free throws before halftime. The Suns, meanwhile, kept stretching the floor and punishing the Magic from deep, finishing 17-for-34 on threes.
Franz Wagner tried to carry the offense through the chaos. He finished with 15 points and a career-high 15 assists, shooting 7-for-13, but he also had six turnovers. Anthony Black was part of the problem too, as the Magic’s backcourt combined for 11 turnovers.
Devin Booker did most of his damage early, scoring 20 of his 30 points in the first half. Dillon Brooks added 24 and helped keep Orlando at arm’s length.
The Magic did have one stretch where the game felt a little more manageable. They cut into the lead in the fourth quarter and made Phoenix think for a moment. But the damage had already piled up, and Orlando never truly recovered from the self-inflicted wounds.
That was especially true in the third quarter, when the Suns turned 10 more Magic turnovers into 16 points. By then, the deficit had become too steep to chase down, especially with Orlando also leaving points at the line. The Magic made just four of their first 10 free throws, were 11-for-20 at halftime, and finished 13-for-24.
The frustration showed up in the body language and in the whistles, too. A Desmond Bane technical foul after he missed a pair of open threes in the third quarter captured the mood of the night, and Franz Wagner was later assessed a flagrant foul for throwing a player to the ground. The Magic shot 13-for-38 from deep, with a late surge helping the final percentage reach 34.2.
There was one clear bright spot in the wreckage: Wendell Carter. Orlando made a point of getting him the ball in the mid-post and around the basket, and he delivered with 27 points, 13 rebounds and 10-for-12 shooting. He was active offensively, steady defensively, and simply did his job while so much else fell apart around him.
On a night when Orlando was undone by missed chances, Carter was the rare player who kept his footing.
In Other News...
Magic Have A Real Chance If They Win This One Battle
The Magic get a chance to test themselves against a Suns team that has been leaking points on the glass and in the possession game, which is exactly where Orlando can tilt a night in its favor. Phoenix has struggled to finish defensive possessions and has been giving opponents extra cracks at the basket, so this matchup puts a premium on clean rebounding, crisp ball movement and making the first shot count.
For Orlando, the warning signs are familiar enough: turnovers have too often undercut good stretches, and the shooting percentages have not always been kind. The injury report also adds another layer to the setup, with Mark Williams, Jordan Goodwin and Rasheer Fleming all out for Phoenix, leaving the Suns a little thinner as both teams settle into projected starting lineups and try to control a game that could swing on a few extra possessions. [Read more 🡒]
Magic Fans Have A New Reason To Watch Osceola Closely
The Osceola Magic are set to open their season at home against the Oklahoma City Blue with a familiar kind of intrigue for Orlando fans, because this roster could end up serving as a real extension of the NBA club. Under new head coach Ronnie Burrell, the G League affiliate enters the year with several players tied to the Magic organization, and that means the nightly box scores in Osceola may carry more weight than usual for anyone tracking the parent teams depth and development.
Burrell arrives with a strong rsum, including G League Coach of the Year honors in 2023, along with years of NBA and professional playing experience that should give this group a steady hand. The bigger story for Orlando is how often the roster may overlap with the NBA team, since some of the two-way players are expected to move back and forth as the season unfolds, making Osceola a place where the Magics next wave can be watched up close. [Read more 🡒]
Magic Beat Themselves In A Loss Fans Wont Want To Relive
The Magic had enough good stretches to make this one feel frustrating long after the final buzzer, but the sloppiness in key moments kept them from cashing in on a night when they actually created extra chances. Orlando grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and turned those into 15 second-chance points, yet the game still slipped away during a 117-104 loss to Phoenix in the middle of the teams four-game West Coast trip.
Phoenix got steady production from Devin Booker, who dictated plenty of the flow for the Suns and helped keep Orlando from ever fully settling in. The bigger issue for the Magic was self-inflicted, with turnovers repeatedly handing the Suns easy opportunities and leaving Orlando to wonder how a game with so many extra possessions wound up feeling so out of reach. [Read more 🡒]