The Toronto Raptors had this one in their hands-until they didn’t. Up 13 with just 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, they watched that lead vanish in a blink, getting outscored 44-21 in a final frame that spiraled into one of their most stunning collapses of the season.
Let’s break down how it all unraveled.
The Orlando Magic didn’t just chip away at the lead-they barreled through it. Their offense found rhythm and purpose, attacking the rim with layups and dunks, getting to the line, and knocking down threes. It was a relentless stretch that mirrored the kind of offensive onslaught we used to see from peak-era James Harden-efficient, aggressive, and unrelenting.
The Raptors didn’t help themselves either. Turnovers piled up, and they missed shots they normally convert-open threes, point-blank looks at the rim.
That opened the door for Orlando to get out in transition, where they did serious damage. It was a stretch of basketball that felt like the Raptors were stuck in quicksand while the Magic sprinted by.
But Toronto didn’t fold immediately. They punched back with a surge of their own.
Brandon Ingram caught fire for a few possessions, scoring and creating, while Scottie Barnes injected life back into the team. Barnes was everywhere-blocking shots, pushing the tempo, and finishing strong at the rim.
That duo helped ignite a 13-3 run that gave the Raptors a brief second wind and their ninth 40-point quarter of the season.
Then came the turning point.
To start the fourth, Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković made a puzzling decision-he left both Ingram and Barnes on the bench. The Magic took full advantage, ripping off a 21-5 run to flip the game on its head and take a three-point lead.
Toronto’s offense stalled completely. Orlando’s size and physicality closed off the paint, and the Raptors looked boxed in, unable to generate clean looks or break through the defense.
Ingram eventually returned and tried to steady the ship, hitting a big shot out of a Spain Leak action to tie things up. But by then, the momentum had fully shifted.
Desmond Bane made sure it stayed that way.
He was electric down the stretch, putting on a shooting clinic and leading a late-game three-point barrage that buried the Raptors. Bane hit jumper after jumper, and he wasn’t alone-Anthony Black drilled Orlando’s 16th triple of the night, launching it over two defenders. Jalen Suggs added a highlight-reel moment of his own, scrambling on the floor to keep his dribble alive before somehow creating a dunk out of thin air.
It was a fourth quarter where everything that could go wrong for Toronto did-and everything the Magic touched turned to gold. A game the Raptors controlled for three quarters slipped away in the final 12 minutes, and they’ll be left wondering how it all fell apart so fast.