NBA: Paolo Banchero’s 29 points lead Magic past struggling Raptors
Published March 18, 2024 9:03am Paolo Banchero scored a game-high 29 points to help lead the Orlando Magic to a 111-96 win over the visiting Toronto Raptors Sunday. Franz Wagner added 22 points for the Magic (40-28), while Moritz Wagner scored 14. Jalen Suggs collected 10 points for Orlando, who won their third straight game […]
Tomas Kauer - News Moderator 
Paolo Banchero scored a game-high 29 points to help lead the Orlando Magic to a 111-96 win over the visiting Toronto Raptors Sunday.
Franz Wagner added 22 points for the Magic (40-28), while Moritz Wagner scored 14. Jalen Suggs collected 10 points for Orlando, who won their third straight game and second in a row over the Raptors, following Friday’s 113-103 win in Toronto.
Jordan Nwora led the Raptors (23-45) with 18 points off the bench, while Gary Trent Jr. scored 15. Bruce Brown and Immanuel Quickley each had 12 for Toronto, which lost its seventh game in a row and its ninth in 10 tries. Kelly Olynyk followed with 11, while Gradey Dick had 10 points.
After holding a five-point halftime lead, the Magic extended their advantage with a 9-1 scoring run to start the third quarter, stamped with Banchero’s layup that gave Orlando a 61-48 lead with 9:03 remaining.
Nwora’s jumper cut Orlando’s lead to nine, but the Magic answered with a 7-0 run that gave them their largest lead of the game at 74-58 with 3:35 left.
Toronto got the deficit down to eight but Banchero and Joe Ingles each hit 3-pointers to push the Orlando lead back to 14 entering the fourth quarter.
The Magic coasted through the fourth quarter, as Banchero’s fourth triple gave them their largest lead of the game at 109-89 with 2:45 left.
In the first quarter, Orlando got off to an early 18-8 lead on Banchero’s triple with 6:51 remaining.
Trailing by two, Bruce Brown scored four straight to give the Raptors a 30-28 advantage – their first lead of the game – with 10:45 remaining in the first half.
The score was knotted at 45 with 2:55 left in the first half, before Banchero and Ochai Agbaji traded buckets to tie the game at 47.
The Magic then scored on their final two possessions of the first half, as Banchero’s mid-range jumper was followed by Caleb Houstan’s 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds left, giving Orlando a 52-47 halftime lead.
Banchero and Franz Wagner led Orlando with 12 first-half points, while Agbaji paced Toronto with nine in the opening half.
Orlando’s victory clinched its first season sweep of the Raptors since the 2011-12 campaign. —Field Level Media/Reuters
