Orlando Magic at New York Knicks

Magic rally late, beat Knicks 104-98 to stop 3-game slide

Terrence Ross scored 19 points off the bench and rookie Jalen Suggs added 13 for the Magic, who snapped a three-game losing streak.

Orlando trailed 96-94 with 1:54 left but stunned the Knicks by outscoring them 10-2 the rest of the way for their second road win of the season – both at Madison Square Garden.

“One thing I will say is we talk about their resilience, their ability not to overreact, not to panic,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosely said. “They are doing a great job communicating with one another in the huddle. My assistants did a great job of communicating with them the things we needed to do down the stretch.”

RJ Barrett scored 17 points and Mitchell Robinson had 13 points and 11 rebounds for New York, which has lost four of six.

The Knicks had 18 turnovers and fell to 3-5 at home.

“You have to play for 48 minutes. You can’t let your guard down,” New York coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Unfortunately, we beat ourselves tonight. Our turnovers hurt us. We’re capable of playing a lot better than we did. We give them credit. They played well. They played hard. We didn’t.”

Orlando (4-11) appeared on its way to another loss after blowing a nine-point lead in the final quarter.

New York trailed 84-82 before going on an 8-0 run capped by consecutive 3-pointers from Alec Burks and Obi Toppin to take an 89-84 lead with 6:33 left.

The Knicks extended it to 96-95 on Barrett’s layup before Franz Wagner led a 7-0 run with a three-point play, including a two-handed dunk over Barrett. Anthony followed with a pair of free throws before Suggs stole Derrick Rose’s errant pass and fed Wendell Carter Jr. to make it 102-96 with 29 seconds left.

Suggs, who in his senior year of high school took Mr. Football and Mr. Basketball honors before quitting football to star for Gonzaga and leading them to a national title game, credited his old defensive skills on the gridiron for three of his four steals in the fourth quarter.

“Free safety,” Suggs said. “I just saw two running the wings and they had numbers. Really just read that. I was looking for a pass. I knew he wanted to throw a crosscourt pass and get the ball over. Just trying to make winning plays.”

After a layup by Barrett, Anthony made a pair of free throws to seal it.

TIP-INS

Magic: Ross became the fourth active player in the NBA to eclipse 5,000 points as a reserve, joining Atlanta’s Lou Williams, Brooklyn’s Patty Mills and Utah’s Jordan Clarkson.

Knicks: Backup center Nerlens Noel (sprained right knee) was held out. … Burks, who scored 15 points, hit three of his four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.

TWO-WAY PLAYER

Suggs, who returned to the starting lineup after missing his last game due to a sprained right ankle, had eight points in the fourth quarter, including one after a steal that cut Orlando’s deficit to one point with under five minutes left.

Mosley credited Suggs’ winning attitude as one of the keys to the Magic’s first win in 10 days after beating Utah at home.

“It talks about the wining mentality, making the bell plays,” Mosley said. “Diving on the floor. He is the first one on the ground, diving, trying to get the loose ball. He makes the big play, the bell play, getting the steal in transition. Those winning plays and that mentality of being a competitor and doing whatever it takes to get these guys over the hump.”

UP NEXT

Magic: Continue their five-game road trip at Brooklyn on Friday night.

Knicks: Host the Houston Rockets on Saturday afternoon to close out their three-game home set.

Regular Season Series

ORL leads series 2-1