ORLANDO, Fla. — Kristaps Porzingis had 30 points and 13 rebounds and the Washington Wizards defeated the undermanned Orlando Magic 119-100 for their fourth straight win on Friday night.
Kyle Kuzma added 23 points and Rui Hachimura had 16 points and seven rebounds. The Wizards played their second straight game without star guard Bradley Beal due to a strained Achilles tendon.
Franz Wagner had 28 points and eight assists for Orlando, and Paolo Banchero added 21 points. The Magic were down to just eight players following suspensions from the NBA following an incident in Detroit on Wednesday night.
The Wizards overcame 26 turnovers with 56% shooting and a 53-35 rebound advantage.
“We’re winning games that we should be winning,” said Porzingis. “We had a tough schedule in December and now it’s getting a little easier. With this team, especially with all the guys who are missing them, we should win this game. So we only do what we are paid to do.”
After losing in Brooklyn on the last day of November, the Wizards opened December with nine more losses.
“After a ten-game losing streak, it’s good to see us on the other side,” said coach Wes Unseld Jr. “We’re finally starting to get healthy and it’s promising to see where we can go. I like where we are. We play with a lot of confidence.”
The Magic have lost three times in a row after winning eight out of nine.
“We just couldn’t manage to drop the shots early and then we had to start from the back,” said Banchero, who only had seven of 24 shots. “It’s quite difficult when you have eight players. You can’t get boys out. Boys have to stay inside.”
Wagner scored eight points on a 16-0 run that put the Magic 32-27 early in the second quarter. Prorzingis scored 15 points in the final 8:39 of the third, leading Washington 56:47 at the break.
Two 3-point plays from Corey Kispert and three-point plays from Porzingis and Daniel Gafford helped the Wizards extend their lead to 25 in the first six minutes of the second half.
TIP INS
Wizards: F Taj Gibson sat out the game with a groin injury. … The Wizards have beaten Orlando six times in a row.
Magic: The Magic played sans C Mo Wagner, G Cole Anthony, C Mo Bamba, C Wendell Carter Jr., G RJ Hampton, and G Gary Harris, all of whom were suspended for their involvement in an altercation in Detroit. Wagner will also miss Orlando’s next game along with three other players. . . . The Magic shot 5 for 27 from 3 point range.
FORWARD
Franz Wagner, Kevon Harris, and Admiral Schofield will be on the sidelines alongside Mo Wagner for the next Magic game. All but Mo Wagner were banned for leaving the banking area.
“Neither of our guys tried to escalate the situation,” said Magic coach Jamahl Mosley. “The goal was more to get our guys off of (Detroits) bank to get Mo out of this situation in front of their bank. The league made the decision it made and I think we’re going to leave it at that. We take responsibility for all the actions we played in that role and now we have to learn from that and move forward.”
NEXT
Wizards: Sunday night in Milwaukee.
Magic: hosts Oklahoma City on Wednesday night.
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