Playing in their first home game following the NBA All-Star break, the Magic were aiming to carry over the momentum gained from Orlando‘s 3-1 showing on its four-game West Coast road trip when hosting the Rockets on Thursday night at Kia Center.
Jamahl Mosely‘s squad, however, failed to accomplish that goal when it gave up a double-digit to lead to Houston, falling 113-108 in its first of four home games over the course of the upcoming week.
Playing in front of a national TV audience on Amazon’s Prime Video, Magic guard Desmond Bane notched 30 points, but was outdueled by Houston’s Kevin Durant, who notched 40 in the five-point win.
Orlando led by as many as 19 points but Houston clawed back into the game by way of a 21-0 run during the third quarter while playing on the second night of back-to-back.
The No. 3 team in the West, the Rockets (37-21) led early and finished out on top in a contest that featured 12 lead changes.
The Magic (31-27) continue their four-game homestand when they host the Pistons on Sunday.
Bane boost
Bane didn’t take a shot in his first four minutes on the floor, but he didn’t waste much more time making his presence felt on offense.
Upon re-entering the first quarter with 2:34 left in the frame, the Magic guard hit three 3-pointers. And he didn’t slow down from there. Bane converted on his first five triples to post 17 points in the first half.
Adding six rebounds and four assists, Bane scored 30-plus points for the fourth time in the past six games and the 10th time this season.
Rest of starters
Although Jalen Suggs (back strain) was available to play, Mosey stuck with the same starting five — Anthony Black, Bane, Tristan da Silva, Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter Jr. — as the past three games.
Banchero got off to another slow start opening 1 for 6 from the floor but still did a little bit of everything with eight points, five rebounds and four assists in the first half.
He fought his way to the free-throw line where he shot 6 for 10 and finished near a triple-double with 19 points, eight rebounds and nine assists.
Carter converted on two early shots near the basket and scored majority of his 16 points around the rim, shooting an efficient 6 for 8 from the floor.
Similar to Banchero, both da Silva and Black opened 1 for 6 from the floor. Da Silva hit a pair of third-quarter triples to total eight points while Black also finished with eight.
Suggs’ return
Coming off the bench for the first time since his second season in the league (2022-23), Suggs played mostly 4-5 minute stints.
He scored his first points off a steal and running jumper but picked up two fouls less than two minutes after entering the game.
The Magic guard wasn’t as impactful as he hoped, finishing with just three points in 13 minutes while shooting 1 for 6 from the floor.
Second-chance scoring
The Magic posted 18 second-chance points before Houston scored any.
Orlando had success on the offensive glass, outrebounding Houston 15-10 on that end of the floor. Nine different Magic players grabbed an
Ultimately, Orlando ended with 30-7 advantage in second-chance scoring. Veteran guard Jevon Carter (14 points) was a big factor in that difference, hitting multiple 3-pointers off of offensive boards grabbed by the Magic.
Free points
The Magic got to the free-throw line 21 times but only made 13 of their attempts.
Meanwhile, Durant himself made 10 free throws when the Rockets as a whole shot 16 for 20 at the charity stripe.
In a five-point loss, Orlando missed eight free throws.
Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com
