Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors fouls Jalen Suggs of the Orlando Magic during a game at Amway Center on November 03, 2022 in Orlando, Florida. (Getty Images via AFP)
MIAMI – Jalen Suggs nailed a pair of late three-pointers as the Orlando Magic sent the Golden State Warriors crashing to a fourth straight defeat in the NBA on Thursday.
The 21-year-old Suggs scored nine points inside the final two minutes as the Magic overcame a 39-point display from Stephen Curry to score a surprise 130-129 victory over the reigning NBA champions.
Suggs led the scoring for Orlando with 26 points, while rookie No.1 Draft pick Paolo Banchero impressed again with 22 points.
Franz Wagner also provided offensive support with 19 points, one of seven Orlando players who finished in double digits.
“This is such an amazing team,” Suggs said. “We’ve been doing everything the right way all season.
“We’ve come up short in a couple of tough ones, a couple of close ones. And we just stuck with it. We had a real heart to heart conversation last night, just the players and the coaching staff, about what we need to do to change the culture.
“We need to get used to winning, get used to moments like this when we finish and close it out, which is exactly what we did today. It was a great a great team win, we stuck together through their big runs and closed it out.”
The win improved Orlando’s record to 2-7, although the Magic remain rooted to the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
Curry’s masterpiece for Golden State, meanwhile, was backed with 27 points from Klay Thompson, with Kevon Looney adding 17. The Warriors fell to 3-6 with the defeat.
Golden State had gone into the game determined to snap a three-game losing streak which followed disappointing losses at Charlotte and Detroit and a controversial loss in Miami on Tuesday.
Up until half-time on Thursday, the Warriors looked to be well on course to achieving that goal, building a 12-point cushion to lead 65-53 at the break.
But the defensive failings that have troubled the team all season flared once more in the third quarter as Orlando piled on 43 points.
That left the Magic trailing by just two points heading into the fourth quarter, and they moved into the lead at the start of the final period with four unanswered points.
Suggs then took over in the final two minutes of regulation, draining a 26-foot three-pointer to put Orlando 122-120 up with 1min 48sec remaining.
Three Curry free throws restored Golden State’s lead before a Wagner lay-up and two more Suggs free throws made it 126-123.
Curry tied it up once more with a 27-foot three-pointer, but Suggs then responded in kind with his second three of the night to put Orlando 129-126 up.
A further free-throw left Orlando 130-126 ahead and although Thompson drained a three-pointer to get the Warriors within one, Orlando held on for victory.