Magic loses road game to Suns despite Fultz’s 25 points – The Mercury News

The Orlando Magic cleaned up some of their defensive lapses on Thursday against the Phoenix Suns after allowing 22 3-pointers in Tuesday’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

But the Magic’s improved defense (28-42) and their resilience to keep the Suns (38-32) in the game wasn’t enough, as Phoenix pulled off a 116-113 victory over Orlando at Footprint Center.

The loss was the Magic’s fifth loss in six games. The Suns ended their three-game losing streak with the win.

Markelle Fultz led the Magic with 25 points (tying a season high), 9 assists, 7 rebounds and 2 steals in 34 minutes. Four other Magic players scored in double figures.

Five Suns players scored in double figures, led by Devin Bookers’ 19 points, including 16 in the second half.

The Magic kept the game close but didn’t make the necessary plays down the stretch to take the lead late on.

They turned the ball over 6 times in the fourth and were inaccurate on offense towards the end of the game. Four of those 6 turnovers came in the last five minutes of the game.

Josh Okogie blocked Paolo Banchero’s 3-pointer with 3.1 seconds left to seal the 3-point victory for Phoenix.

The Magic will play back-to-back games in Los Angeles against the Clippers on Saturday afternoon and the Lakers on Sunday night.

This article first appeared in OrlandoSentinel.com. Khobi price by email at khprice@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @khobi_price.

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