(SportsNetwork.com) – The Orlando Magic finally got their first victory of the
season and will try to make it two in a row Friday night when they welcome the
Minnesota Timberwolves to Amway Center.
The Magic toppled the winless Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center on
Wednesday night. Tobias Harris made a fall-away jumper as time expired to give
the Magic a 91-89 victory.
“It was good to make that shot and I think it was great to get a victory
tonight,” Harris said.
The Magic avoided what would have been their first 0-5 start since 1990-91,
their second season as an NBA team.
Harris ended with 18 points for the Magic, who were coming off a 98-90 loss in
Chicago on Tuesday night. They are 24-5 in the last 29 meetings with the
Sixers and 14-4 in their last 18 games in Philadelphia.
Nikola Vucevic added 17 points in the win, Channing Frye scored 13 with 11
rebounds and Ben Gordon had 15 points off the bench. Evan Fournier finished
with 10.
The Timberwolves squared their record on Wednesday with their first road
victory of the season, a 98-91 triumph over the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays
Center.
Minnesota scored the final nine points of the contest to stun the Nets.
Nikola Pekovic made the go-ahead layup with 48.6 seconds remaining and was
fouled by Brook Lopez pivoting for the go-ahead bucket. Pekovic made the free
throw to give the Timberwolves a 94-91 lead.
Thaddeus Young added a floater and Kevin Martin made two foul shots for the
last of his game-high 26 points, ending Minnesota’s 9-0 flurry.
Ricky Rubio started the run with a tying layup and finished with 14 points and
12 assists for the Timberwolves. Pekovic added 16 points and 11 rebounds and
rookie Andrew Wiggins scored 17, an early career high.
“I thought we showed more patience, we set some better screens and we made
some shots,” said Minnesota head coach Flip Saunders.
The Timberwolves shot an impressive 41.2 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.
They only committed 13 turnovers and scored 23 points off Brooklyn’s 18
miscues.
Minny will finish a quick jaunt through Florida with a matchup against the
Miami Heat Saturday night.
The Magic, who have yet to post 100 points in a game, and Wolves split their
last four meetings with the home team defending honor. Prior to the
Timberwolves winning their last two at home against the Magic, Orlando took
five in a row in Minnesota.
