Aaron Gordon leads Orlando Magic to 104-101 win over Miami Heat


Devdiscourse News Desk | Orlando | Updated: 18-10-2018 09:23 IST | Created: 18-10-2018 08:43 IST
Aaron Gordon leads Orlando Magic to 104-101 win over Miami Heat
Aaron Gordon had 26 points and 16 rebounds, leading the host Orlando Magic to a 104-101 win over the Miami Heat in the season opener for both teams on Wednesday night. (Twitter)
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Aaron Gordon had 26 points and 16 rebounds, leading the host Orlando Magic to a 104-101 win over the Miami Heat in the season opener for both teams on Wednesday night.

With the Heat trailing by one point and just 2.3 seconds left, Miami's Josh Richardson stepped out of bounds while trying to make a baseline drive, allowing Orlando to hold on for the win.

Miami led by 14 points midway through the first quarter, but Orlando dominated much of the rest of the game, putting together a 22-6 second-half run.

Gordon made 9 of 18 shots from the floor, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range.

Magic backup centre Mohamed Bamba, the sixth player selected in the 2018 NBA Draft, had 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in his league debut.

Point guard Goran Dragic led the Heat with 26 points. He made 9 of 14 shots from the floor, including 3 of 7 3-point tries. Richardson added 21 points for the Heat, and centre Hassan Whiteside contributed 12 points and 18 rebounds.

However, the Heat shot just 39.2 per cent from the floor as a team, and they were minus-4 on turnovers. The Magic hit 41.5 per cent of their field-goal attempts.

Miami controlled much of the first quarter, taking a 31-25 lead at the end of the first period.

However, the Magic rallied to take a 37-36 in the second quarter. The Heat missed 16 of 19 shots, allowing Orlando to come back. By the end of the half, Orlando had a 54-51 lead.

Gordon led Orlando in the first half with 13 points, making both of his 3-point tries. The rest of the team shot 0-for-10 from beyond the arc.

Miami was led in the first half by Dragic, who had 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting. His only miss was a 3-point try.

Orlando maintained a slim 79-78 lead through three quarters.

Miami had its chances late as Orlando made just 3 of 6 free throws in the final 12 seconds, but the final turnover by Richardson sealed the Heat's fate.

(With inputs from agencies.)

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