National Basketball Association
Orlando 113, Miami 107
When: 7:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 23, 2020
Where: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Officials: #47 Brandon Schwab, #42 Eric Lewis, #31 Scott Wall
Attendance: 3396

Evan Fournier scored nine of his game-high-tying 25 points in the fourth quarter, leading the host Orlando Magic past the Miami Heat 113-107 on Wednesday night in the season opener for both teams.

Orlando ended the game on a 19-12 run.

Magic forward Aaron Gordon fought off foul trouble to score 20 points, 11 of them in the fourth period.

Terrence Ross, who has been battling a toe injury, added 19 points for Orlando. Nikola Vucevic, who made only 2 of 8 free-throw attempts and 5 of 13 field-goal attempts, still managed 15 points and 11 rebounds. He was 3-for-5 from 3-point range.

Bam Adebayo led the Heat with 25 points, 11 of them in the fourth quarter, and 11 rebounds.

Miami's Jimmy Butler, who averaged 43 minutes during last year's NBA Finals -- which concluded just 72 days ago -- had a career-high seven steals in 36 minutes. Butler also contributed 19 points and seven assists.

The Heat got 20 points and seven assists from Goran Dragic, 14 points from Duncan Robinson and 13 points from Tyler Herro.

The Magic also got 15 points and four assists from Markelle Fultz.

Rookie point guard Cole Anthony, Orlando's first-round pick, posted six points and six assists with three turnovers in 19 minutes during his NBA debut.

Precious Achiuwa, Miami's first-round pick, scored eight points in 14 minutes in his initial outing.

Miami led 29-27 after a first quarter that featured good shooting from both teams: 54.5 percent for Orlando and 52.4 percent for Miami. The difference was the Heat's 3-point shooting (4-for-6) as compared to the Magic's (2-for-7).

The Magic led 57-53 at halftime as both teams continued to shoot over 50 percent.

Butler scored nine points in the third quarter, helping Miami take an 83-79 lead. Gordon was called for two fouls -- his third and fourth of the game -- in the first 70 seconds of the third period, and he sat out the rest of the quarter.

That helped Miami rally as Orlando missed its final six shots of the period.

Gordon, after going scoreless in the third, scored seven points in the first 3:27 of the fourth, and the Magic rode that momentum to victory.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Miami   Orlando
Bam Adebayo 25 Scoring Evan Fournier 25
Jimmy Butler 7 Assists Cole Anthony 6
Bam Adebayo 11 Rebounds Nikola Vucevic 11
Jimmy Butler 5 Free Throws Made Evan Fournier 4
Jimmy Butler 7 Steals Aaron Gordon 4
Bam Adebayo 1 Blocks Michael Carter-Williams 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Miami 107 50.6 7-20 16-19 25 43 2 11 22
Orlando 113 47.7 10-28 19-30 23 41 3 15 18
Upcoming Games
  • Orlando will play their next game on the road against Washington. The Magic have a W/L % of 1.000 after a win and .000 after a loss.
  • Miami will play their next game at home against New Orleans. The Heat have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .000 after a loss.