ORLANDO, Fla. – The Orlando Magic weren’t able to overcome the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night — even with Draymond Green’s early ejection — thanks to Andrew Wiggins scoring 13 of his 23 points during the fourth quarter and Stephen Curry making the final two baskets of the game, leaving the score at 101-93.
Curry made a driving hook shot with 1:09 to go and added a 3-pointer with 34 seconds left for the final points. He had 17 points — going 6 of 18 from the field — and 10 assists.
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A night after holding Miami to 92 points in a win, the Warriors held Orlando to 93. Playing mostly without Green and entirely without the injured Jonathan Kuminga, Golden State had a 52-39 rebounding edge to overcome poor shooting with the exception of Wiggins.
“We found a way to fight it to the end and get a win," Curry said. “It did start with the defensive effort of being detail-focused, talking, rebounding, and then we were locked in for a good stretch of the game.”
They had some help from the Magic, starting with 10 missed free throws.
“Shots were not falling, free throws were not falling,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “We were getting open and good looks. We missed some easy ones at the rim.”
Cole Anthony led Orlando with 26 points and eight rebounds. Paolo Banchero had 15 points and eight rebounds.
“Sometimes it just goes down like that where you come out and miss a couple in a row and then it just trickles down,” said Banchero, who shot 5 for 17. “We just had some tough, tough misses.”
The Warriors, holding the 10th spot in the Western Conference, won for the 20th time in 35 road games. They are 18-19 at home, and could become only the second team in NBA history to finish with a winning record overall, and a losing record at home. The Brooklyn Nets did it in 2021-22.
Green, who missed 16 games after being suspended by the NBA in December, was ejected 3:36 in for disputing a foul call on Wiggins. It was Green’s fourth ejection of the season.
“It was unfortunate," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "He deserved it, and he’ll bounce back.”
Banchero scored on the play but it was Orlando's final field goal of the period. The Magic shot 3 for 22 in the first quarter and fell behind 27-11.
The Warriors had a 17-point lead midway through the third quarter before Anthony shot the Magic back in it with a couple of 3-pointers, a backcourt steal and a layup.
“We’ve played so many tight games,” Kerr said. “We’re, obviously, a team that can compete with anybody and lose to anybody. That’s kind of where the league is these days, other than a handful of teams like Boston."
Kuminga missed his first game since Oct. 30 with a sore left knee.
Banchero became only the eighth player in the last 60 years to have 3,000 points, 900 rebounds and 600 assists in his first two NBA seasons, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Sidney Wicks, Larry Bird, Larry Johnson, Luka Doncic, Grant Hill and LeBron James.
UP NEXT
Warriors: At Charlotte on Friday night.
Magic: Host Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba