Anthony Black saved five of his 22 points for a late surge, Desmond Bane capped a 37-point effort with a late go-ahead 3-pointer and the Orlando Magic held off the visiting Chicago Bulls 125-120 on Monday night for their third consecutive win.
Scoring 21 of the second half’s first 27 points, the Bulls led by as many as 15 in the third period and retained a 109-104 advantage after a Julian Phillips dunk with 5:07 to play.
Black’s 3-pointer nearly a minute later closed the gap to 110-109, and after a Matas Buzelis free throw for the Bulls, Bane drilled his third long-distance shot to put the Magic in front 112-111.
Black followed with a lead-extending layup at the 2:41 mark, after which Bane’s two free throws and a Wendell Carter Jr. dunk in the final 35.3 seconds kept the Bulls at arm’s length.
Bane shot 12 for 17 overall and 10 for 10 at the foul line in running up a season-high-tying point total. He also found time for six rebounds and five assists.
Black complemented his 22 points with a team-high nine rebounds, while Franz Wagner chipped in with 25 points, Carter 17 and Jalen Suggs 10. Tyus Jones contributed a team-high six assists to the Orlando cause off the bench on a scoreless night.
Josh Giddey paced a balanced Chicago attack with 22 points. He was joined with 20 or more by Buzelis with 21 and Nikola Vucevic and Tre Jones with 20 apiece. Ayo Dosunmu nearly joined the club with 18 points to go with a game-high seven assists.
Vucevic completed a double-double with a game-high 11 rebounds, while Giddey filled out his box score line with nine rebounds, six assists, three steals and a block.
The Bulls completed a winless four-game trip despite outscoring the hosts 48-27 from beyond the arc. Dosunmu converted four of six from deep.
Giddey and Vucevic had eight points apiece in the Bulls’ flurry at the start of the second half, which came after the teams went into the break tied at 53-all.
