The Orlando Magic rolled to their third consecutive victory Sunday night, never trailing in a 131-117 win over the New York Knicks in Orlando.
Orlando saw its 18-point, first-quarter lead shrink to just one at halftime, but the Magic scored the first six points of the third and were able to hang on for the remainder of the game.
Six players scored in double figures for Orlando, led by Aaron Gordon's season-high 31. Nikola Vucevic narrowly missed out on a triple-double, finishing with 28 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, and Evan Fournier added 19 points.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 32 points, and Trey Burke added 31 for the Knicks, who have lost five straight. Enes Kanter had 10 points and 11 rebounds in the second quarter alone and finished with 21 points and 19 rebounds for the game.
Orlando won for the seventh time in the past nine games after starting the season 2-6. The Magic are shooting 49.6 percent and averaging 114.2 points during the nine-game stretch. Orlando shot just 41.4 percent and averaged 99.9 points through the first eight games of the season.
The Magic made their first 10 field-goal attempts Sunday and scored 25 points in the opening five minutes of the game to take an early 15-point lead. By the end of the first quarter, Orlando had matched a franchise record for most points in an opening period with 44, and Gordon had scored 20.
New York outscored Orlando 35-23 in the second quarter, and Noah Vonleh's 3-pointer in the last minute cut the Magic's edge to 67-66 at the half.
Mario Hezonja, who was drafted No. 5 overall in 2015 by the Magic, did not play due to a coach's decision in his first return to Orlando.
The Magic have won five of their past six games against the Knicks.
Orlando hosts the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday before heading out west for a six-game road trip. New York returns home to face the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday.
--Field Level Media
New York | Orlando | |
Tim Hardaway Jr. 32 | Scoring | Aaron Gordon 31 |
Enes Kanter 3 | Assists | Nikola Vucevic 9 |
Enes Kanter 19 | Rebounds | Nikola Vucevic 10 |
Tim Hardaway Jr. 9 | Free Throws Made | Nikola Vucevic 6 |
Tim Hardaway Jr. 3 | Steals | Jonathan Isaac 2 |
Enes Kanter 1 | Blocks | Nikola Vucevic 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
New York | 117 | 46.0 | 8-24 | 29-35 | 12 | 42 | 2 | 7 | 14 |
Orlando | 131 | 57.1 | 13-32 | 22-26 | 35 | 35 | 6 | 5 | 17 |