Former Florida State star Malik Beasley is making a triumphant return to the Sunshine State.
Beasley and his Minnesota Timberwolves teammates will go for their seventh consecutive win on Friday night when they face the Magic in Orlando. Minnesota has won its past six games by an average of 24 points.
Wednesday’s 132-102 victory over the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder featured a historic 3-point performance by Beasley. The 6-foot-4 guard, the 19th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, attempted all 17 of his field goals from beyond the arc.
A career-high 11 were successful to set an NBA record for most points (33) scored via 3-point shots only. Beasley also established franchise single-game records for total 3-pointers, breaking Anthony Edwards’ mark of 10 set in December 2021, as well as most threes (seven) in one half.
Beasley, whose 33 points tied his season high, is shooting 52.5 percent (31 of 59) from 3-point range this month as Minnesota sits in seventh place in the Western Conference.
The Timberwolves welcomed back D’Angelo Russell (hamstring) and Edwards (patella) on Wednesday following their injury absences. Edwards scored 16 points, Russell dished out 12 assists and Minnesota shot 42.3 percent (22 of 52) from downtown.
“The key to the shooting was the ball movement,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. “(Beasley) got so many great looks and then he created a couple down the stretch once he had gotten in a groove. I was really proud of Malik because early on he made a bunch and then he didn’t really kind of chase them, he let them come to him.”
Friday starts a three-game road trip for Minnesota that includes a stop in Miami on Saturday, while Orlando is home for six games in 12 days. It’s the Magic’s longest homestand of the season as they look to improve on a 7-23 record at the Amway Center.
Orlando made it four wins in the past seven games with Wednesday’s 108-102 victory at New Orleans.
Magic coach Jamahl Mosley leaned heavily on his bench in the second half. The Pelicans got as close as 105-102, but Terrence Ross and Chuma Okeke combined to hit three free throws during the final 10 seconds.
Ross scored 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter as Orlando’s bench finished with 50 points and 23 rebounds. Gary Harris made four 3-pointers and scored 16 points in 27 minutes and R.J. Hampton and Okeke each played 28 minutes.
Cole Anthony paced five Magic players in double figures with 19 points. Rookie Jalen Suggs returned to the starting lineup after missing two games because of a sprained right ankle.
The Orlando defense limited the Pelicans to 22.6 percent shooting (7 of 31) from 3-point range.
Orlando has won 11 of the past 13 meetings at home against the Timberwolves. The Magic also overcame a 13-point second-half deficit to win 115-97 on Nov. 1 in Minneapolis.
