{"id":643711,"date":"2026-03-06T18:35:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T18:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/643711\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T18:35:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T18:35:13","slug":"orlando-magic-return-to-road-after-latest-one-point-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/643711\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando Magic return to road after latest one-point win"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Magic<\/a> accomplished something the franchise hadn\u2019t done in more than three years Thursday night at Kia Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Orlando<\/a> defeated Dallas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Although it required a clutch 3-pointer from Jalen Suggs<\/a> with less than a minute to play in the fourth quarter and a dunk from Wendell Carter Jr.<\/a> with 1.4 seconds left on the clock, Jamahl Mosley<\/a>\u2018s squad survived, 115-114, against the Mavericks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Magic last beat Dallas on Nov. 9, 2022 during Paolo Banchero<\/a>\u2018s rookie season. Despite doing it by the slimmest of margins, Orlando snapped a four-game losing streak against the Western Conference opponent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels good to get a win against them,\u201d Banchero said in the locker room after the one-point victory. \u201cThey\u2019ve definitely had our number since I\u2019ve been here. It\u2019s been a long time since we\u2019ve gotten a win against Dallas.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, even though it was last second, we\u2019ll take it for sure,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Winning in the last second has become almost normal for Orlando this season.<\/p>\n

With their latest victory, the Magic improved to 11-3 in games decided by three points or less. Entering Friday\u2019s slate of games, the 11 wins were the most in the NBA and just one short of the franchise record (12; set in 1995-96).<\/p>\n

Orlando\u2019s 11th win by three points or less almost didn\u2019t happen, when the Magic found themselves trailing by 14 points in the first half and later by four points with 37.3 seconds left in the game.<\/p>\n

And yet, Orlando overcame those circumstances late to remain right in the thick of a tight playoff race in the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n

Following a timeout, Suggs drilled a 3-pointer to cut Orlando\u2019s deficit to one point with 32.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter. After No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg<\/a> missed a jumper with 8.7 seconds remaining, Suggs took the ball down the court and passed it to Carter, who slammed down the go-ahead basket.<\/p>\n

The Mavericks weren\u2019t able to get off a shot as the buzzer sounded.<\/p>\n

Orlando\u2019s confidence never wavered.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey went up four, we called a timeout and Desmond (Bane) told me that we were going to win the game,\u201d Banchero said. \u201cObviously, Jalen making two huge plays to win the game, passing to Wendell for the dunk, shows the attitude that we had.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe never felt like we were going to lose the game, even though (we were) down four with 37 seconds left,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

After completing two comebacks this week, first Tuesday against the Wizards and then Thursday against the Mavericks, Orlando\u2019s margin for error shrinks significantly when the team travels on the first night of a back-to-back Saturday at Minnesota.<\/p>\n

The Timberwolves (40-23) have more than wins than 16-win Washington and 21-win Dallas combined.<\/p>\n

Starting off stronger would help the Magic avoid falling down early on the road.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore energy probably,\u201d Banchero said when asked what needs to happen to start games off better. \u201cHonestly, we\u2019ve been coming out pretty flat at home. I don\u2019t know why that is but it seems like it\u2019s been a trend for us.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, we\u2019ve got to find a way to be better at the start,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

But as the old adage goes, it\u2019s not how you start, but how you finish.<\/p>\n

Entering Friday, the Magic were tied with the 76ers for the most fourth-quarter comebacks (17) this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I think there (are) lessons you learn in it,\u201d Mosley said about Orlando\u2019s latest thriller. \u201cBecause we made some mistakes before that. But that\u2019s the beauty of the game, that you have to play 48 minutes. If we\u2019re saying anything about the game, it has to be that \u2014 that you play 48 minutes all the way through no matter what the heck is happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s by 10 points or by just one, the Magic need every win they can get with the regular season starting to wind down. Orlando (33-28) entered Friday just half-a-game back of No. 6 Philadelphia, but in a virtual tie with No. 8 Miami and only two games ahead of No. 9 Charlotte and No. 10 Atlanta.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in a tight race in the standings,\u201d Banchero said. \u201cA loss (Thursday night) would have really hurt, so (I\u2019m) glad we won. Every game counts from this point forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019d by lying if he said he doesn\u2019t keep up with the East standings more than two-thirds into the regular season.<\/p>\n

\u201cShoot, I\u2019m looking every day almost,\u201d Banchero said. \u201cCharlotte\u2019s a hot team right now, been watching Charlotte. They\u2019re playing at a really high level and I think they\u2019re at the 9-seed. And obviously, (we\u2019re a) half-game behind Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, you just pay close attention to it, but at the end of the day, you\u2019ve just got to come out one game at a time and try to get a win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Up next \u2026<\/p>\n

Magic at Timberwolves<\/p>\n

When:\u00a03 p.m., Saturday, Target Center<\/p>\n

TV:\u00a0FanDuel Sports Network Florida, Amazon Prime Video<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Magic accomplished something the franchise hadn\u2019t done in more than three years Thursday night at Kia Center.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":643712,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3793],"tags":[7,686,149,4057,165,166,6,76,1412,80939,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-643711","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-mavericks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-dallas-mavericks","11":"tag-dallasmavericks","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-mavericks","14":"tag-nba","15":"tag-orlando-magic","16":"tag-social","17":"tag-social-sports","18":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116183677705406227","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}