Heat 107, Magic 90: Magic get off to slow start in Miami

A high-energy victory in New York, followed by an early-morning arrival in Miami, and then the first back-to-back of the season resulted in a predictable outcome: a slow start.

The Magic fell behind early against the Heat thanks to some turnovers and cold shooting and never fully recovered, losing 107-90 on Monday.

Orlando, after its impressive victory over the Knicks on Sunday, shot just 27.3 percent in the first quarter, making only 1 of 11 attempts from deep in the quarter. That, combined with six first-quarter turnovers, helped the Heat take a 27-15 lead after one.

The Magic’s shooting improved in the second and third quarter. A three by Jalen Suggs, one of four he made in the game, cut the Miami lead to 60-54 with 9:29 left in the third quarter. The Heat re-established a double-digit lead before Cole Anthony drained a three and a lay-in off an alley-oop from Gary Harris to pull the Magic back within six with 5:10 to go in the third.

That would be as close as the Magic would get as the lead grew to 11 by the end of the quarter.

Orlando, which made just 12 of 44 attempts from three, committed 18 turnovers in the loss that led to easy points in transition for Miami.

The Magic’s two rookies led the team in scoring as Suggs and Franz Wagner scored 15 points each. Suggs had his best shooting performance of the young season, going 5-for-12 from the field, including 4 of 8 from three.

Wagner scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half while making five of his first 10 shots.

Anthony had 12 points, nine rebounds and five assists, and R.J. Hampton added 12 points of the bench. Terrence Ross, after scoring 22 points in the fourth quarter against the Knicks, was held scoreless on 0-for-7 shooting.

Gary Harris made his season debut after missing the first three games with a hamstring injury, scoring two points on 1-for-3 shooting in 19 minutes.

Jimmy Butler had his way inside against the Magic, leading the Heat with 36 points on 15-for-21 shooting.

The Magic on Wednesday will welcome in a Charlotte team that narrowly missed out on its first 4-0 start in franchise history after an overtime loss to the Celtics on Monday.