ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner scored 24 points each, Desmond Bane added 23 in his Orlando debut, and the Magic beat the Miami Heat 125-121 on Wednesday night in the season opener for both teams.
Norman Powell led Miami with 28 points, and Bam Adebayo had 15 points and 12 rebounds. The Heat led by seven points midway through the fourth quarter before going more than four minutes without a field goal.
Magic guard Jalen Suggs, a surprise starter after missing the second half of last season and the entire exhibition season, finished with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Suggs came up with several defensive plays late in the fourth quarter, including a steal and layup that reduced Miami’s lead to 111-110.
Suggs’ short jumper with 58.7 seconds left put Orlando ahead to stay, and Wendell Carter’s two free throws finished the scoring with 6.1 seconds left.
Andrew Wiggins had 18 points for the Heat and Davion Mitchell had 16 points and 12 assists.
Bane, playing in his first game after signing a five-year contract with the Magic, hit his first two 3-point shots and finished 3-for-7 from behind the arc.
Miami led 39-38 after the first quarter, the highest-scoring quarter in the 143-game history of the intrastate series.
Suggs played for the first time since Jan. 25, after missing most of last season with an assortment of injuries and having surgery on his left knee.
The Heat played without Tyler Herro, their leading scorer last season, who had surgery on his left ankle on Sept. 19.
Heat: Visit Memphis on Friday night.
Magic: Host Atlanta on Friday night.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Copyright 2025 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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.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
Murder for Two Read moreMurder For Two
Kicks or Treats: Dance for Free Week at CY Danceworks! Read moreKicks or Treats Dance for Free Week at CY Danceworks
Burlingame High School Panther Theater group brings Neil's Simon's farce Rumors to life on O… Read moreNeil Simon's Rumors: Burlingame High School Drama
BSA Troop 44 invites all 5th-8th grade boys and girls to our annual Canoe Day event! Meet ou… Read moreBoys & girls grades 5th - 8th: Join us for Canoe Day!
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.