The Magic finally got the kind of Summer League result they were looking for in Las Vegas, and they did it by turning a tight game into a defensive grind.
Orlando beat Miami 93-88 on Saturday afternoon at Cox Pavilion on the campus of UNLV, using a third-quarter surge to pull away from the Heat and claim its first win in Las Vegas. The matchup had a familiar feel, too, with the Sunshine State rivals crossing paths again after meeting seven times between the preseason and regular season in 2025-26.
The swing came after halftime. Orlando trailed by six at the break, but came out of the locker room and won the shorter Summer League third quarter 33-18. That stretch changed the game, and it came with the Magic leaning into the kind of energy their coach wanted to see.
“The thing I was proudest about is (that) they had 36 points in the second half,” Magic Summer League coach D.J. Bakker said about the Heat.
Bakker pointed to the way the group fed off one another during that run.
“The energy across the board was really good,” Bakker said about the third quarter. “You even saw it offensively with the offensive rebounds. So, I say the offensive rebounds because typically when you’re crashing the glass, there’s energy.
“And then you heard the bench - the bench started getting louder,” he added. “Then the players started talking more.
It’s one thing leads to another. It’s maintaining that and then sustaining that for a longer period of time.”
Orlando got balanced scoring in the win. Second-year guard Jase Richardson, two-way center Colin Castleton and guard Lester Quinones each scored 15 points, while second-year forward Noah Penda added 12. Together, that quartet accounted for 57 of the Magic’s points.
Castleton did most of his damage around the rim, though he also knocked down one 3-pointer from the top of the key. After dealing with Charlotte’s 7-foot-1 Ryan Kalkbrenner on Thursday night, he was back in another size battle, this time against Miami 7-footer Vladislav Goldin.
Penda’s afternoon was a little bumpier. He took only one shot in the first quarter and at times saw multiple defenders crowd him.
Still, he delivered a couple of big moments, including a tough step-back 3 early in the third quarter and a late block on Goldin with 15.1 seconds remaining. He also finished with six turnovers.
“His size and his frame, him being so big, I feel like he could be an elite level defender,” Quinones said about Penda. “He kind of predetermined his move, was just there and just swatted it away.
That was crazy. That was impressive by Noah.”
The bench gave Orlando a major lift as well. The Magic reserves outscored Miami’s bench 32-8, with TyTy Washington Jr. and Philip Wheeler scoring nine points apiece.
Second-round pick Izaiyah Nelson also made his presence felt on the defensive end, where he was vocal, helped organize traffic and finished with two steals and a block in 17 minutes. He added six points, two assists and two rebounds.
Miami had the game’s biggest individual scorers in Trevor Keels and Jahmir Young, who combined for 59 points. Keels finished with 32 and Young added 27, but the pair managed only 25 points in the second half as Orlando tightened things up.
The Magic’s pace created problems for Miami, but it also came with some sloppiness. Orlando pushed the ball aggressively and tried to get down the floor quickly, and that speed led to a handful of poor decisions. The Heat turned those mistakes into 13 points off 19 takeaways.
Jamal Cain, who previously spent time in Miami on a two-way contract, was in attendance for Orlando. So were several members of the Magic’s front office, including president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman, general manager Anthony Parker, senior advisor to Weltman John Hammond and executive vice president of basketball operations Pete D’Alessandro.
Orlando is right back at Cox Pavilion on Sunday to finish a back-to-back against the Trail Blazers at 7 p.m. on ESPNU. After that, the Magic’s next game comes Wednesday at 4 p.m. against the 76ers.
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Noah Penda also gave Orlando a reason to build on the loss with a strong shooting night, and Richardson made a point of noting the work his teammate put in. There was also a little extra energy on the sideline, with regular-season Magic teammates showing up to support the group after teasing their appearance in the group chat, a reminder that even in Summer League, Orlando is treating these games like part of a bigger picture. [Read more 🡒]