Magic win 6th straight, top Heat 104-99 in East showdown

Nikola Vucevic scored 24 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, Jonathan Issac added 19 points and the Orlando Magic extended their longest winning streak in eight years to six games by topping the Miami Heat 104-99 on Tuesday night.

D.J. Augustin scored 17 points and Aaron Gordon finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic (37-38), who won the season series with Miami 3-1 and moved past the Heat (36-38) into eighth in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Evan Fournier scored 11 points for Orlando, which hasn't a winning streak this long since January 2011.

Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon (00) drives to the basket past Miami Heat forward Kelly Olynyk (9) in the first quarter during an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 26, 2019, in Miami.(AP PhotoJoe Skipper)

Dion Waiters scored 26 points for Miami, which lost on the night the Heat raised Chris Bosh's No. 1 jersey to the rafters in a halftime retirement ceremony. Dwyane Wade scored 22 points and Josh Richardson added 17 for the Heat, who are assured of a losing home record this season — they're now 17-21 with three games left in Miami.

Orlando dominated Miami on the backboards, outrebounding the Heat 55-39.

Waiters made a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left to get Miami within three, but Augustin made a pair of foul shots to seal the win.

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) dunks the ball over Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic (9) in the first quarter during an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 26, 2019, in Miami.(AP PhotoJoe Skipper)

The Heat led by 17 in the first half, settling for a 51-42 lead at the break — a 35-minute halftime in real time, because of the length of the ceremony paying tribute to Bosh.

Orlando clearly wasn't deterred by the longer-than-usual intermission. The Magic controlled the third quarter, taking their first lead of the game with 5:11 left in the period on a 3-pointer by Issac. Orlando shot 57 percent in the quarter, held the Heat to 30 percent from the floor in those 12 minutes, outscored Miami by 15 points and took a 76-70 lead into the fourth.

Orlando pushed the lead out to eight early in the fourth, before a 10-2 Heat run — fueled in part by a four-point play from Wade — tied the game at 82. Unbothered yet again, Orlando scored nine of the next 11 points and went up 91-84 on a 3-pointer by Vucevic with 5:56 remaining.

Former Miami Heat player Chris Bosh's jersey is raised at the team's retirement of his jersey at halftime of an NBA game between the Heat and the Orlando Magic, Tuesday, March 26, 2019, in Miami. Bosh played 13 seasons, the first seven in Toronto and the last six in Miami. He averaged 19.2 points and 8.5 rebounds, was an All-Star 11 times and won two championships.(AP PhotoJoe Skipper)

Vucevic scored 18 points after halftime and the Magic scored 62 points in those two quarters.

TIP-INS

Magic: This game started a four-game trip against East playoff contenders, with stops left in Detroit, Indiana and Toronto. "We're going to have to go on the road and do it, but we have more than enough talent," Orlando coach Steve Clifford said. ... This was the 14th and final back-to-back of the season for the Magic. They were 10-4 in openers, 6-8 in second games.

Heat: Wade played against Orlando for the 53rd and presumably final time. He's faced the Magic more times in the regular season than he has any other team. ... Justise Winslow turned 23 on Tuesday and sat out his sixth consecutive game with a thigh bruise. The Heat were also missing Rodney McGruder (knee). ... Kelly Olynyk played 23 minutes and is now 88 shy of 1,700 for the season — and a $1 million bonus.

MILESTONE

Wade now has 23,004 points in his career, the 30th NBA player to cross that threshold. He still has a chance of catching Elgin Baylor (23,133) for 29th on the league's all-time list.

CONSISTENT

The Magic have used the same starting lineup in 28 straight games, going back to Jan. 23. To put that in some perspective, since Jan. 23 the Heat have used eight different starting lineups.

PECULIAR

The Heat are now 2-2 in jersey-retirement games. They won when retiring jerseys for Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Hardaway, but lost when hoisting one for Alonzo Mourning — also against Orlando, and also in the 74th Heat game of the season, just like Tuesday night.

UP NEXT

Magic: Visit Detroit on Thursday.

Heat: Host Dallas on Thursday.

More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Paolo Banchero had 31 points and 14 rebounds, Jalen Suggs added 24 points and the Orlando Magic handed Cleveland the worst playoff loss in franchise history, winning 121-83 on Thursday night to cut the Cavaliers’ lead to 2-1 in their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Franz Wagner finished with 16 points and eight assists for the Magic, who led by 43 points in the fourth quarter on the way to the third-largest margin of victory in a playoff game. They earned their first playoff victory since 2019 and the first on their home floor since April 26, 2011.

They can even the series with a victory at home Sunday.

Jarrett Allen had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Cavaliers, who shot 39% from the field and 23.5% from 3-point range. Caris LeVert added 15 points and Donovan Mitchell had 13 points and seven assists.

76ERS 125, KNICKS 114

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid scored 50 points, making all four 3-point attempts and scoring 18 in a potential series-shifting third quarter to lead Philadelphia to a win over New York in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Embiid boldly stated “we’re going to win this series” after the 76ers dropped Game 2.

With one of the finest postseason efforts of his career, Embiid became the third player to ever score 50 points against the Knicks in the postseason and kept the hope of a Philadelphia series comeback very much alive.

The Knicks lead the series 2-1. Game 4 is Sunday in Philadelphia.

Embiid was 13 of 19 from the floor overall, made 19 of 21 free throws and hit five 3-pointers.

NUGGETS 112, LAKERS 105

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Aaron Gordon had 29 points and 15 rebounds, Nikola Jokic added 24 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists, and Denver moved to the brink of the second round with a victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of their first-round series..

Jamal Murray scored 22 points as the defending NBA champion Nuggets won their 11th consecutive meeting with LeBron James and the Lakers in dominating style.

Michael Porter Jr. added 20 points for Denver, which took control in the third quarter and cruised through the final minutes to its fifth straight road win over Los Angeles, starting with its sweep of last season’s Western Conference finals.

Game 4 is Saturday night in Los Angeles. No NBA team has ever rallied from an 0-3 playoff deficit.

Orlando Magic guard Cole Anthony (50) makes a shot as he gets past Cleveland Cavaliers guard Sam Merrill (5) during the second half of Game 3 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)