ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Terrence Ross scored 19 of his season-high 33 points in the fourth quarter and Aaron Gordon finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 12 assists for his first career triple-double, leading the Orlando Magic to a 136-125 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.Nikola Vucevic added 27 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic, who won for the fifth time in six games.D'Angelo Russell led Minnesota with 28 points, but did not score in the fourth quarter. Juancho Hernangomez added 18 points and 13 rebounds.The Timberwolves have lost 19 of their last 21 games, and 11 of their last 12 in Orlando.The 136 points marked a season-high for the Magic, the second-lowest scoring team in the NBA. They shot 54% and had a 54-33 rebounding advantage.After falling behind by as many as 13 points in the first half, Minnesota rallied behind Russell and Malik Beasley, taking a six-point lead on a 3-pointer by Russell from the corner with 5:23 left in the third quarter.Orlando... [More]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A slow start didn't help Giannis Antetokounmpo's shot at NBA history, but the Milwaukee Bucks are hardly a one-man show.Khris Middleton hit a 3-pointer less than 20 seconds into the game, and the team with the league's best record never trailed Saturday night in a 111-95 victory over the Orlando Magic. It's the 13th time the Bucks have led from wire to wire this season.“It's nice to not trail ... but it doesn't really mean anything. We have to keep playing good basketball," Antetokounmpo said.“We were up 27 and they came back, cut the lead to 11. So it doesn't mean anything," the league's reigning MVP added. “We just try to take it quarter by quarter."Antetokounmpo nearly had a triple-double with 18 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists while also falling short of becoming the first player in league history with at least 30 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists in six consecutive games.Antetokounmpo was originally listed with 19 points, but the NBA announced later Saturday... [More]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A slow start didn't help Giannis Antetokounmpo's shot at NBA history, but the Milwaukee Bucks are hardly a one-man show.Khris Middleton hit a 3-pointer less than 20 seconds into the game, and the team with the league's best record never trailed Saturday night in a 112-95 victory over the Orlando Magic. It's the 13th time the Bucks have led from wire to wire this season.“It's nice to not trail ... but it doesn't really mean anything. We have to keep playing good basketball," Antetokounmpo said.“We were up 27 and they came back, cut the lead to 11. So it doesn't mean anything," the league's reigning MVP added. “We just try to take it quarter by quarter."Antetokounmpo nearly had a triple double with 19 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists while also falling short of becoming the first player in league history with at least 30 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists in six consecutive games.With Middleton, Brook Lopez and Eric Bledsoe picking up the slack, it didn't matter as... [More]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo nearly had a triple double with 19 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists, helping the NBA-best Milwaukee Bucks beat the Orlando Magic 112-95 on Saturday night.The Bucks won for the 13th time in 14 games, improving the league’s best record to 45-7 and remaining on course to become just the third team to top 70 wins in a regular season.Antetokounmpo, meanwhile, fell short in a personal bid to become the first player with at least 30 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists in six consecutive games, scoring two points in the first quarter and finishing 6 of 17 from the field.Wilt Chamberlain is the only other player with a stretch of five straight games with 30, 15 and 5, accomplishing it from Dec. 10-17, 1965, with the Philadelphia Warriors.Brook Lopez led the Bucks with 23 points, including 5 for 5 on 3-point attempts. Khris Middleton had 21 points and 13 rebounds, and Eric Bledsoe finished with 18 points for the Bucks, who led by as many as 27 in the third... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — In Philadelphia, Joel Embiid paid tribute to Kobe Bryant by wearing one of his jersey numbers.Brooklyn’s Spencer Dinwiddie and Orlando’s Terrence Ross are showing their respect by no longer doing so. Boston’s Kemba Walker is considering such a change.And coaches around the league left their snazzy leather shoes in the office Tuesday night, wearing Bryant’s signature sneakers instead.The games are going on — except in Los Angeles, for a couple more days anyway. So, too, is the grief after the fiery helicopter crash in Southern California on Sunday that took the life of Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others. And the tributes are continuing as well, such as the separate decisions by Dinwiddie and Ross to no longer wear the No. 8 that Bryant donned at the start of his NBA career.“We often search for meaning in numbers,” Dinwiddie tweeted.Dinwiddie will now wear No. 26. Ross is going back to No. 31. The moves, evidently, are simply their way of saying Bryant’s numbers — he... [More]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The Heat went cold in the fourth quarter Friday night, matching the lowest point total for a quarter by an NBA team in more than two years.Terrence Ross scored 25 points, Nikola Vucevic added 20 points and 11 rebounds and the Orlando Magic held Miami to six points over the final 12 minutes on their way to a 105-85 victory."They shut down the paint, they shut down our layups, shut down a lot of the things we're used to getting and shut down our normal threes," Miami coach Eric Spoelstra said. "There was a possession when they must have run us off five straight 3s on their close-outs and did a tremendous job with making multiple efforts, and we weren't really doing that on the other end. They deserved to get that win." Miami shot 3 for 19 from the field and missed all 10 3-point shots while committing six turnovers in the period.The last team team to score only six points in a quarter was Portland against Toronto in October 2017.Jimmy Butler had 23 points and 10 rebounds... [More]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Terrence Ross scored 25 points, Nikola Vucevic added 20 points and 11 rebounds and the Orlando Magic shut down the Miami Heat in the fourth quarter in a 105-85 victory Friday night.Miami scored only six points in the fourth quarter, going 3 for 19 from the field. Jimmy Butler had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat.Aaron Gordon had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Magic, and Evan Fournier scored 15 points despite spending most of the game in foul trouble.One day after holding the Toronto Raptors to 6-of-42 shooting from 3-point range in a victory at Miami, the Heat shot 7 for 37 from long range and 37.5% overall.After Vucevic and Gordon combined for three 3-pointers in quick succession to give the Magic to a 67-49 lead early in the third quarter, the Heat responded with a 14-3 run. Meyers Leonard then hit pair of 3-pointers to cut Orlando's lead to four.But Miami wet scoreless for more than 3 1/2 minutes at the outset of the fourth quarter, missing five shots... [More]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Terrence Ross made some shots and his Orlando teammates blocked a bunch of them.Ross scored a season-high 26 points Monday night and the Magic rejected 13 shots to break a three-game losing streak with a 103-95 victory over the Chicago Bulls.Mo Bamba came off the bench to block four shots, and Jonathan Isaac and Aaron Gordon blocked three apiece.“That's who we have to be,” Magic coach Steve Clifford said. “We're long, we have size, we have versatility. “The other guys did great things, but without (Ross), we would have been playing from eight, 10 behind there in the third quarter. He kept us in the game and made shot after shot.” Zach LaVine led Chicago with 26 points on 8-of-26 shooting, but the Bulls managed only 14 points in the fourth quarter. Tomas Satoransky added 20 points and was 4 of 5 on 3-point shots.“It's very difficult to win a road game when you have 17 turnovers and they have 13 blocks,” Bulls coach Jim Boylen said.Nikola Vucevic had 21 points and seven... [More]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Terrence Ross scored a season-high 26 points Monday night to help the Orlando Magic break a three-game losing streak with a 103-95 victory over the Chicago Bulls.Zach LaVine led Chicago with 26 points on 8-of-26 shooting, but the Bulls managed only 14 points in the fourth quarter. Tomas Satoransky added 20 points and was 4 of 5 on 3-point shots.Nikola Vucevic had 21 points and seven rebounds for Orlando, which blocked 13 shots and held the Bulls to 31 percent shooting in the second half. Jonathan Isaac finished with 13 points, nine rebounds, five assists, four steals and three blocks.Ross, who made six 3-pointers, hit a short jumper and a 3-pointer on a 7-0 Magic run early in the fourth quarter to put Orlando ahead to stay.With LaVine hitting two free throws and a 3-pointer, the Bulls scored the first nine points of the game.Lauri Markkanen and LaVine made two 3-pointers apiece in the last 4:15 of the first half to leave Chicago with a 54-51 lead at the break.TIP-INSBulls:... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Orlando Magic spent last season climbing back to relevance. They're at it again.Terrence Ross scored 21 points, Evan Fournier added 18 and Aaron Gordon had a big dunk in the final 20 seconds to lead the Magic to their fourth straight win, 93-87 Friday night over the slumping Cleveland Cavaliers, who have dropped four in a row and 11 of 12.Orlando opened the season 2-6, but in winning five of six, the Magic, who had a 17-game improvement in 2018 after winning just 25 games the previous year, reached .500 for the first time.“It’s good we’ve gotten back there after the way we started, but time will tell how good we are,” said Ross, who made two 3-pointers early in the fourth. "We’ve got three tough games coming up that will test us.”The Magic face a brutal stretch over the next week, playing at Milwaukee and home against the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston.Collin Sexton scored 19 points and Cedi Osman 14 for Cleveland, which pulled within 90-87 on rookie Darius Garland's... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Terrence Ross scored 21 points, Evan Fournier added 18 and Aaron Gordon had a big dunk in the final 20 seconds to lead the Orlando Magic to their fourth straight win, 93-87 Friday night over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have dropped four in a row and 11 of 12.Orlando, which opened the season 2-6, moved to .500 for the first time.Collin Sexton scored 19 points and Cedi Osman 14 for Cleveland, which pulled within 90-87 on rookie Darius Garland's jumper with 42.5 seconds left.The Cavs needed a defensive stop on Orlando's next trip, but instead they gave up a dunk on a baseline out of bounds play with just three seconds left on the 24-second shot clock to Gordon, who managed to get free in the lane and scored over Tristan Thompson.On Cleveland's next possession, Larry Nance Jr. threw away the ball trying to hit Sexton on the opposite wing, ending the Cavs' last chance at a comeback. Cleveland was without star forward Kevin Love, who has been battling a flu bug the past few... [More]

Protesters handed out T-shirts and held up signs in support of Hong Kong on Wednesday night when the Washington Wizards hosted a team from the Chinese Basketball Association.The Wizards beat the Guangzhou Long-Lions 137-98 in a game that included more than a half-dozen protests inside Capital One Arena over the NBA's ongoing rift with the Chinese government.Protesters handed out "Free Hong Kong" T-shirts on the street outside the arena before the exhibition game. The protesters, who said they were from Freedom House, held up signs reading, "Shame the NBA," ''South Park was right" and "Memo to the NBA: Principles over profit! No censorship! USA loves Hong Kong."The problems between the NBA and China began after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey posted a tweet last week that showed support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong.The NBA has not apologized for Morey's remarks.A Freedom House spokeswoman said some members were planning to protest inside during the game. A spokeswoman... [More]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — It was time for the last jump shot of Markelle Fultz's workout on the Orlando Magic practice court on Wednesday. He let a 3-pointer fly from the left corner, and spun around in celebration even before the ball swished through the net.After two years of problems, he's feeling good again.The shoulder injuries that kept him off the court for most of the two seasons since he was picked No. 1 in the 2017 draft are now being managed — he's hesitant to say healed — and Fultz is expected to be a full participant in practice when the Magic open training camp next week. It's a significant step forward, though the Magic also know they'll have to proceed with caution."Man, I always have joy every time I step in here no matter what's going on," Fultz said after his workout. "As I learned quickly, you can't take it for granted. You never know when it's going to get stripped away from you."His shot is still a work in progress. Some of his jumpers Wednesday were perfect, some rimmed... [More]

The biggest play Kyle Lowry made in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs might have been overlooked.Game 3 in Orlando, time winding down, Toronto clinging to a three-point lead. Kawhi Leonard's jumper was well short, barely grazing the front of the rim. The rebound hits the floor and ricochets between Orlando's Terrence Ross and D.J. Augustin. They lunged for the ball, and they never had a chance.Out of nowhere, Lowry swooped in between the Magic guards, grabbed the rebound and extended the possession. Seconds later, game over, Raptors win. Orlando's chance at a tie never came, because Lowry knew exactly what was required in the ultimate moment."Kyle does things by example," Toronto coach Nick Nurse said. "He throws his body around. He's continually blocking out guys, seemingly twice his size and keeping them off the glass. He's stepping in and taking charges. Those are inspiring-type plays, I think, that rub off and are contagious and get the rest of the guys on your team... [More]

New Orleans has an All-Star for the sixth straight year.That is, unless he gets traded first.Pelicans standout Anthony Davis — only three days removed from having his trade request made known publicly — was one of the 14 players announced Thursday as reserves for the All-Star Game in Charlotte. Davis wants to be swapped out of New Orleans by the Feb. 7 trade deadline, so it remains unclear if his uniform for the All-Star contest on Feb. 17 will bear a Pelicans logo or not.It's the sixth consecutive All-Star nod for Davis. The Pelicans aren't sure if he'll play for them again, though there's also no guarantee that he gets traded by next week either."That's something that will obviously have to be discussed about what's best for him and what's best for our team," Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said.The other Western Conference reserves were Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook, Denver's Nikola Jokic, Portland's Damian Lillard, Golden State's Klay Thompson, San Antonio's LaMarcus Aldridge and Minnesota's... [More]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Orlando's Terrence Ross has been fined $25,000 for throwing a ball into the stands following a game.NBA executive vice president Kiki VanDeWeghe announced the action Thursday, a day after the Magic forward/guard tossed the ball into the crowd at Amway Center following a 122-120 overtime loss to the Phoenix Suns.It was Orlando's fourth consecutive defeat.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon figures it is time to take on some new responsibility now that is starting the season with a new coach and a new long-term contract.After signing a four-year, $76 million contract in July, the 23-year-old forward says the responsibility for turning around the fortunes of the Orlando Magic is on him as much as anyone."I'm here to spearhead, to make sure it's all-systems-go and make sure everybody is fighting every single night," Gordon said Monday at the team's media day. "I feel like I need to set the tempo, the energy. Energy is very contagious, and I know if my energy is low, then the next person's energy is low, and that's not how it's going to be."The Magic have had six straight losing seasons, four of them since drafting Gordon fourth overall in 2014. They are a long way from NBA respectability, but Gordon believes they can get there under new coach Steve Clifford."That's why I came back," he said. "It's to win with this franchise... [More]

G/F Terrence Ross (right knee) missed his fifth consecutive game on Friday night.

G Terrance Ross (non-displaced fracture in his right leg), who was hurt on Wednesday and is out indefinitely, did not play Friday night.

F/G Terrence Ross will miss "a significant amount of time" after being diagnosed with a sprained MCL and a non-displaced fracture of his right tibial plateau, the Orlando Magic announced Thursday. Ross sustained the injury while attempting to challenge Russell Westbrook's drive to the basket at 4:38 of the second quarter in Wednesday's 121-108 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. The 26-year-old Ross was averaging 9.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists while playing in all 22 games this season for the Magic (9-13).