WASHINGTON (AP) — CJ McCollum scored 27 points and steadied the Wizards after they nearly blew a 26-point lead as Washington held on for a 120-112 victory over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night.
Alex Sarr added 23 points for the young and suddenly competitive Wizards, who have won five of seven. Washington, in the midst of a yearslong rebuild, began the season 3-20 but has gone 7-5 since.
The Wizards' inexperience showed after they took an 89-63 lead on Justin Champagnie's 3-pointer in the third quarter. Orlando cut the deficit to 14 points by the end of the period and continued its rally as Washington began the fourth quarter by going 2 of 10 from the field.
Goga Bitadze's layup got the Magic within 107-105 with 5:03 left, and Orlando could sense the biggest comeback victory in franchise history. But McCollum found Sarr for an alley-oop, then followed with a midrange jumper and a 3-pointer to put Washington ahead by nine.
Another 3 by McCollum made it 117-107 with 1:52 remaining.
Reserve Jase Richardson led the Magic with 20 points and Desmond Bane scored 15.
The Magic have not won consecutive games since winning three straight from Nov. 25-Dec. 1, before leading scorer Franz Wagner suffered a high ankle sprain that has sidelined him for the past month. Orlando still entered play leading the Southeast Division and was sixth in the Eastern Conference.
Orlando was missing another starter in Jalen Suggs, who suffered an MCL contusion in his right knee in a loss at Chicago on Jan. 2. Suggs has not been cleared for on-court activity, coach Jamahl Mosley said before the game.
Magic: At Brooklyn on Wednesday night.
Wizards: At Philadelphia on Wednesday night.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Prayer, grounded in divine Love and spiritual law, offers a reliable foundation for healing,… Read moreInspirational Talk on Effective Prayer: Finding healing and wholeness in divine Love
What the Constitution Means to Me Read moreWhat The Constitution Means To Me
Dirk van Ulden said:
Dirk van Ulden said:
Dirk van Ulden said:
LittleFoot said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.