Magic and Heat Both Fall

The Magic run out of spells

The Magic had an impressive game Monday night against the Indiana Pacers when 21-year-old Paolo Banchero dropped 50 points to aid in their win. However, Wednesday night didn’t look as promising.

Orlando blew a 20-point lead, then missed 18 of 22 shots in the fourth quarter of a 102-99 loss to the Chicago Bulls. The Magic led by 15 after the first quarter and 48-28 at one point in the second.

Banchero’s game-high 31 points — and a 3-pointer that didn’t count with 0.1 left on the clock would have been a game changer. Same thing with Jalen Suggs, when he had a chance to tie the game on an earlier possession, but his fadeaway shot didn’t fall in the closing seconds.

Banchero is averaging 5.6 assists, and 2.2 turnovers. He is also shooting 34.4 percent from deep (a career-high) on 6.4 attempts (a career-high).

The Magic continue their road trip when they travel to Cleveland on Friday for a rematch between last year’s No. 4 and 5 seeds in the East’s postseason.

Paolo Banchero in the first half at CHI:

20 PTS
5 REB
4 AST
7-11 FG pic.twitter.com/25fEl2vVpl

— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) October 31, 2024

The Heat simmer down

Miami star Tyler Herro finished with with 34 points, five rebounds, one steal, and seven assists on 60% shooting. He shot a team-high 8 of 13 from three-point range in the Heat’s 116-107 loss to the Knicks.

https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/1851789178037502058

The Heat fell into what has been known as their ‘third-quarter drought’ because of how often the third quarter turns for the worst.

With 8:20 left in the third quarter, the night was still going well for the Heat. Nikola Jovic had just hit a three-pointer to put the Heat ahead by 13 points — Miami’s biggest lead of the game. The drought hit soon after.

Miami went cold, shooting just 4 of 15 (26.7 percent) from the field and 1 of 6 (16.7 percent) on threes during that stretch.

“Once they got to the middle part of that quarter, they pretty much took over from there,” Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We had some missed makeable shots, but we definitely didn’t defend well enough during those stretches to be able to hold the fort, hold the momentum. Then when they took the lead, the momentum had shifted at that point.”

The Knicks went on a 9-1 run to extend their lead to 12 points and seal the victory in the final quarter.

Wednesday marked the third time in the first four games that the Heat have lost the third quarter. The Heat have been outscored by double digits in each of those three third quarters.