Aaron Gordon had 27 points (12 in the fourth quarter) and 10 rebounds, and the Orlando Magic rallied from 19 points down in the third quarter to beat the Brooklyn Nets 115-113.
The Magic trailed 54-41 at halftime and 67-48 with 8:58 left in the third quarter. They outscored the Nets 67-46 the rest of the way.
The Nets had the ball down 2 with 31 seconds left, but Gordon blocked Caris LeVert’s cutting layup at the rim, lifting the Magic’s chance to win from 76% to 86%. It would have tied the game. They had the ball down 2 after a timeout, but Taurean Prince missed a pull-up 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have put them ahead.
During clutch time, the Magic outscored the Nets 9-8. Gordon scored 7 of the Magic’s 9 on 3 for 3 shooting. Early in the fourth quarter, Michael Carter-Williams had 2 steals, one of them leading to Gordon’s 3-pointer that put the Magic ahead 99-97, and the Magic scored 6 points off them.
Terrence Ross had 21 points (13 in the fourth quarter) and 8 rebounds off the bench, and Evan Fournier added 21 points. Ross scored 13 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter. The Magic had 3 20-point scorers.
For the Nets, Spencer Dinwiddie had 24 points and 8 assists. Jarrett Allen had 16 points and 11 rebounds on 8 for 8 shooting. Garrett Temple scored 18 points off the bench.
The Magic’s starters were outscored 59-41 in 20 minutes together.