ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Magic were finally able to put the NBA’s trade deadline behind them ahead of Thursday evening’s 115-104 home win over the Denver Nuggets.
“It weighs on everybody a little bit,” coach Jamahl Mosley said pregame. “But now that it’s gotten past us, we’re able to concentrate on the game in front of us.”
The Magic (23-33) showed their focus was where it needed to be despite their slow start, picking up a near wire-to-wire win over the West-leading Nuggets (38-18).
Orlando didn’t falter after falling behind 12-0 early in the first.
Jalen Suggs (11 points and 4 rebounds), who started in place of Gary Harris because he sat with soreness in his right adductor (muscles located in the inner thigh), made multiple hustle plays to cut into the deficit.
The Magic took a 22-21 lead at 2:12 in the first and had a 29-26 lead heading into the second.
They took advantage of the Nuggets being careless with the ball. Denver committed 16 turnovers for 22 Orlando points, sparking the Magic’s transition attack (18 fastbreak points).
The Magic’s bench, which combined for 56 points and was led by Cole Anthony (17 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 blocks) and Bol Bol (17 points, 3 rebounds and 1 block) played a significant part in the victory.
The second unit gave Orlando its biggest lead of the game, 107-88 with 6:05 remaining.
The Nuggets cut the deficit to 10 once the Magic’s starters subbed back in, but Orlando held on. The Magic have beaten the top teams in both conferences: Denver Thursday and the Boston Celtics three times.
Seven Magic players scored in double figures, led by Wendell Carter Jr.’s 19 points.
Former Magic forward Aaron Gordon led the Nuggets with 37 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal.
The Magic lost a big part of their team — literally — before playing the Nuggets.
They traded 7-foot big man Mo Bamba to the Los Angeles Lakers ahead of the 3 p.m. trade deadline.
They officially announced the trade 30 minutes before tipoff, with Bamba’s departure being part of a four-team trade that was first reported by the Orlando Sentinel:
— Magic received: a 2024 second-round pick (via the Denver Nuggets), cash considerations and Patrick Beverley;
— Lakers received: Bamba, Davon Reed and the Clippers’ 2024 and 2025 second-round picks;
— Nuggets received: Thomas Bryant;
— Los Angeles Clippers received: Bones Hyland.
In a statement, the Magic confirmed what the Sentinel first reported earlier in the day on Beverley. They will not require him to report to the team. That means the sides are either working on a buyout for a portion of his $13 million salary or the Magic can outright waive Beverley (paying him the full amount) so he can become a free agent.
Bamba, who the Magic drafted with the No. 6 pick in 2018, was the team’s third-longest tenured player behind Terrence Ross and Jonathan Isaac.
He finished his Magic career with averages of 7.7 points (49.5% shooting — 56% on 2s, 36% on 3s), 5.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 18.3 minutes (266 games — 81 starts).
“He has always been a special part of this group,” Mosley said of Bamba, who wouldn’t have been eligible to suit up because he’s serving a four-game suspension handed down by the league after an on-court altercation last week. “His ability to be around the guys, the camaraderie, the togetherness, he represented so much of that. On the court, his ability to block shots, knock shots down — those are big pieces of who he is.
“But as a young man, watching him grow over the year and a half has been fantastic. [He has a] care factor that I don’t think a lot of people recognize. There are so many things he does behind the scenes, that for a young man of his age, are very special.”
The Magic didn’t make any other moves, showing confidence in the young team that entered Thursday 17-13 in its previous 30 games.
“The group that we have in here now has continued to show growth,” Mosley said. “They’ve continued to play hard for one another. They will continue to do that as we keep moving forward.”
