Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said his team is starting to believe it can compete with – and defeat – the best teams in the NBA, and that showed when his squad knocked off the Denver Nuggets 124-119 Wednesday night.
The victory extended the Magic’s winning streak to five games.
Orlando has another big challenge ahead when it meets the visiting Boston Celtics in an NBA in-season tournament game Friday afternoon. Boston improved its record to an NBA-best 12-3 by beating the Milwaukee Bucks 119-116 on Wednesday.
Franz Wagner scored 24 of his team-high 27 points in the second half of the victory over the defending champion Nuggets. Paolo Banchero added 23 points in the win.
The Magic broke a 115-115 tie on a Banchero 3-pointer with 1:49 to play. Banchero, last season’s NBA Rookie of the Year, shot 4 of 5 from behind the 3-point arc. He’s shooting 45.5 percent on 3-point attempts this season after finishing at 29.8 percent last season.
The Celtics received 26 points and eight assists from Jaylen Brown, and 23 points and 11 rebounds from Jayson Tatum in their triumph over Milwaukee.
Boston led throughout the game but had to fend off a late run by the Bucks. Kristaps Porzingis added 21 points.
The Celtics are 2-0 in in-season tournament games and are the only unbeaten team in the East’s Group C. Boston’s victories came against Brooklyn and Toronto.
Orlando has won two of its three in-season tournament games. The Magic beat Chicago and Toronto after opening with a loss to Brooklyn.
