Before Friday night, the Orlando Magic had blown 11 fourth-quarter leads and 11 double-digit leads this season. Against the Minnesota Timberwolves, they did both.
Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) goes to the basket against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the third quarter at Target Center. Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images
Minnesota scored 40 points in the fourth quarter, all after Orlando had taken an 11-point lead early in the quarter.
The comeback was spurred by reserve guard Donte DiVincenzo, who keyed a 17-1 Timberwolves run with eight points, an assist and a big block in a four-and-a-half-minute stretch.
Paolo Banchero scored 17 points in the quarter, while the rest of the Magic put up just seven points. Banchero didn’t turn the ball over, shooting 7-for-12, taking half of Orlando’s shots.
His teammates went 3-for-12, missing all five of their three-pointers, as the Magic ultimately lost to the Timberwolves, 118-111.
Orlando fell to 2-7 in its last nine games, blowing big leads, late leads or both in four of those games.
In one of those wins, a 111-109 victory over the Bucks on March 8, it almost blew a 15-point fourth-quarter lead, letting its advantage dwindle to two points.
It needed Damian Lillard to miss a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer to escape.
It’s not clear what’s wrong with the Magic. Perhaps it’s their over-reliance on Banchero and scoring in isolation — the Magic are last in the NBA in assists per game.
Clearly, their crunch-time defense is lacking. It’s a problem they need to address before the playoffs or, seeing as they’ve dropped to 6.5 games out of sixth place, before the play-in.
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