Orlando Magic guard Cole Anthony dunks against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Photo from Orlando Magic Twitter
Cole Anthony came off the bench to lead seven Orlando scorers in double-figures with 20 points, and the Magic rode a dominant second half to a 127-120 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday in Minneapolis.
The Magic went on an 8-0 run early in the third quarter to lead by double digits, a cushion it kept for most of the second half.
The lead swelled to as many as 22 points in the fourth quarter, after a melee late in the third quarter led to the ejections of five players. Jalen Suggs and Mo Bamba were ejected for scuffling with Minnesota’s Austin Rivers, while the Timberwolves’ Taurean Prince and Jaden McDaniels were tossed along with Rivers for their involvement.
Austin Rivers and Mo Bamba got into an altercation on the court.
Five players were ejected from the game. pic.twitter.com/TbhF9JV5xa
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 4, 2023
Bamba and Suggs were part of the balanced scoring night for the Magic, with Bamba knocking down 3-of-7 from 3-point range en route to 11 points and Suggs coming off the bench to notch 10 points.
Suggs was one of five Orlando reserves to score at least nine points. Along with Anthony’s 20 on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor, Moritz Wagner added 19 points, Bol Bol shot 6-of-9 from the field for 14 points, and Jonathan Isaac scored nine points.
Anthony also matched Paolo Banchero with a team-leading eight rebounds and dished six assists, matching the game-high. Banchero finished with 11 points.
nah this is crazyyy @The_ColeAnthony pic.twitter.com/qQddTT5wzn
— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) February 4, 2023
D’Angelo Russell shot 6-of-16 from beyond the arc and led all scorers with 29 points. He grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and added six assists.
Anthony Edwards shot just 5-of-15 from the floor as his run of games scoring at least 23 points ended at eight. He finished with 19 on Friday.
Rudy Gobert added 15 points, and Naz Reid scored 10 points off the bench. Luka Garza scored 15 of his 17 points in the final 4:20, leading a late-game rally that pulled the Timberwolves to within six points with 20.2 seconds left before ultimately falling short.