Heat rally in 4th, top struggling Magic
Orlando Magic guard Mario Hezonja (8) defends against Miami Heat center Kelly Olynyk (9) during the first half of an NBA basketball game. AP
MIAMI — Wayne Ellington doesn’t play video games, so he doesn’t know what a cheat code is.
He gets the term now.
Josh Richardson scored 14 of his 20 points in the final quarter, Ellington made four 3-pointers in that game-deciding period and the Miami Heat finished with a flourish to beat struggling Orlando 107-89 on Tuesday (Wednesday Manila time) — beating the Magic for the first time in the teams’ last five meetings.
“We needed that one,” Heat guard Goran Dragic said. “Huge win for us.”
It was tied going into the fourth, and Miami — which trailed Orlando by 10 in the second half — outscored the Magic 39-21 in the final 12 minutes. All four of Ellington’s late 3s came in a span of 3 1/2 minutes.
“He’s a cheat code,” Orlando’s Jonathan Issac said, using the term video-gamers know as something that gives them special powers while playing.
Said Ellington: “I don’t really play video games, so I don’t know exactly what that means. But I’m guessing it’s a big compliment, so I appreciate that.”
Tyler Johnson added 17, Kelly Olynyk scored 15 and Dragic had 14 for the Heat, who had their biggest margin in a final quarter this season.
Hassan Whiteside returned from an 11-game absence with a bone bruise in his left knee, adding seven points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes.
“I don’t expect somebody to miss that many games and come right back in and everybody have terrific rhythm, including him,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “There’s going to be a little bit of a process.”
Elfrid Payton scored 19 points for Orlando, which now has two separate nine-game losing streaks this season. The Magic started 8-4, and are 3-20 since.
“We played extremely hard,” Magic coach Frank Vogel said. “I was proud of how hard our guys played.”
Evan Fournier and Mario Hezonja had 14 apiece for Orlando, which got 12 from Marreese Speights. After that 10-point lead, the Magic got outscored by 28 in the final 20 minutes.
“We had a lot of turnovers so that led to easy buckets,” Fournier said. “They got it going and the momentum changed.”
The Heat started 3 for 19 from 3-point range, then made eight of their final 14 from deep. Miami shot 56 percent in the final quarter, after shooting 41 percent through the first three, and outrebounded Orlando 19-6 in the fourth.
“We were getting good looks all night,” Ellington said. “The first half they didn’t really fall for us, but we stayed patient.”
