The Orlando Magic rebounded from their late-game blunder against the Memphis Grizzlies with a dominant 110-90 victory over the Washington Wizards on Sunday night. Anthony Black led the charge off the bench, matching his career-high with 23 points while adding seven rebounds, three assists, a steal, and a block.
Black, known for his defensive intensity, credited his ability to impact both ends of the floor for his breakout performance.
“Definitely take pride in defense, always have since probably middle school,” Black said postgame. “It’s always been something I love to do, and it does spark my offense too — just making plays on either end is a big confidence boost to any player. I definitely try to bring it, try to pressure the ball, get deflections, maybe a steal, block, or a rebound, and then let the rest come to me.”
The Magic took control in the third quarter, outscoring the Wizards 32-17 after holding a slim 49-47 lead at halftime. Orlando shot 48% from the field and 45.5% from three in the period while holding Washington to 38.1% shooting without a made three-pointer. The defensive effort also forced six Wizards turnovers.
Black emphasized the team’s defensive execution as the key to pulling away in the second half.
“Just our defense, the way we finished possessions, and the way we turn our defense into offense,” Black said. “I think that was a big difference between the first and second half… I think we took out the three ball pretty well in the second half.”
Magic pull away from Wizards as Anthony Black shines with hot shooting
Despite a slow start offensively, the Magic found their rhythm after halftime, stringing together stops and converting on the other end.
“Just that we needed to play with a sense of urgency today,” Black added. “Obviously, we had a slow start — did a good job defensively in the first half, but our offense came alive in the second half. We started stringing together three or four stops in a row, and we went on a pretty good run.”
Anthony Black also reflected on his recent shooting improvement. Over his last 15 games, he has shot 45.7% from three on 2.3 attempts per game, a significant jump from his season average of 30% across 55 games. Against Washington, he finished 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.
“I’m pretty comfortable playing where I’m at right now… gives me a chance to operate a little bit while playing some minutes with our two guys, so it’s a little bit of everything for me,” Black said. “And with the three-point shot, it’s been feeling good. I went through probably two or three weeks of just good misses, back rim misses, so definitely just the mentality to keep shooting through those and just keep being ready to shoot.”
Jamahl Mosley credits Black’s defensive energy for second-half surge
Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley acknowledged the team’s early offensive struggles but praised their response in the second half.
“I think the flow was just a little bit off. I think calls were being made, a couple of fouls here, the game — there was no real flow,” Mosley said. “When you can’t find a flow within a game, it kind of takes a little bit of the rhythm out of what you’re trying to do offensively and defensively. I think we did a good job mostly defensively, other than fouling early on. But once we cleaned that up, I thought our guys did a very good job of responding to it.”
Mosley credited the third-quarter run as a turning point.
“I really like the way we responded. Obviously, the other night took its toll on us a little bit, but I think our ability to respond the right way — it wasn’t always pretty, but that third quarter, guys stepped up, our defense stepped up, and we were able to get out, get runs and some easy baskets.”
The Magic coach also highlighted Anthony Black’s defensive impact.
“I really like the way he was picking up full court. Defensively, we talk about being the head of a snake, and when he got in the game, it was about picking up full court, changing the game, let your defense create offense,” Mosley said. “And so when you’re focused on that, I think that it gets you easy baskets when you can start the defense, and that’s where your focus is — I loved his ability to push it in transition, and then once that happened, he was able to collapse the defense, find guys, and then he was finding his openings by pushing the pace.”
Magic turn focus to playoff rematch against NBA-best Cavaliers
With the win, the Magic improved to 29-30, maintaining their hold on the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. The team continues its seven-game homestand with a matchup against the first-place Cleveland Cavaliers (47-10) on Tuesday night, a game set to be nationally televised on TNT. The Cavaliers enter the contest on a seven-game winning streak.
Orlando last faced Cleveland in November, losing 120-109 in their first rematch since last year’s playoffs. Jalen Suggs led the Magic in that game with 28 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Suggs’ availability remains uncertain after missing 12 consecutive games with a left quad contusion, keeping him sidelined for 22 of Orlando’s last 23 games.
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