Orlando, FL - The Magic continued their road trip with the first of two games in Chicago during this stretch of away games, ultimately securing a 96-94 victory over the Bulls.

The 1st quarter began with both teams playing mediocre basketball, resulting in an almost identical period between the two teams. The main differentiator was turnovers, with Orlando forcing the Bulls into six, double that of the Magic's own production. Orlando struggled significantly to find the bottom of the net this quarter, missing all 10 attempted threes and converting only 29.2% of their field goals. On the bright side, the team's relentless drives into the paint created seven trips to the free-throw line, where they made all seven attempts. The Bulls and Magic had 21 points each to finish the 1st quarter.

Orlando seemed like a different team in the 2nd quarter, largely thanks to Cole Anthony’s immense offensive contribution, pouring in 14 points in just 12 minutes. He was getting shots from all over the floor, including two deep buckets from the logo. The rest of the team felt Anthony’s energy and began clicking, continuing to barge their way into the paint, making life hard for Chicago’s defenders by the rim. The Bulls had no choice but to foul the Magic while they charged straight for the basket, resulting in another quarter where the team sank their free throws, going 9 for 11. Orlando was not only clicking on offense but on defense as well. The Magic didn’t allow the home team to breathe on their half of the court, forcing seven turnovers and getting five steals behind some lockdown defense from Jonathan Isaac and Jalen Suggs. A combination of elite basketball from Orlando and some sloppy play from Chicago resulted in a massive 17-point lead for the Magic to close out the half.

After the Bulls emerged from the locker room, the 3rd quarter seemed different for them as they cleaned up some of their 1st-half mistakes and made it hard for the Magic to keep growing their large lead. Orlando found it much more difficult to penetrate the paint like they had been doing in the first two periods. The team began to shoot from beyond the arc to compensate for the lack of shots available down low and ended up converting on 62.5% of their three-point attempts, thanks to Joe Ingles, Gary Harris, and Jalen Suggs efficiently burying their attempts. This sudden change of offensive game plan seemed to damage Orlando’s flow and ball movement however and resulted in five turnovers. Defensively, the roles seemed to have reversed, with Chicago bulldozing their way into the paint and forcing fouls from Orlando, leading to eight total fouls from the visitors, including a technical foul on Cole Anthony. After the tech, the team crumbled a bit, and their lead was cut to single digits after a dunk from Dosunmu and a 3-point buzzer-beater from Caruso.

The Magic were determined to keep their lead during the 4th quarter to avoid a late-game collapse and began to play smarter basketball by holding the ball until they got a high-percentage look for the first few minutes, helping them maintain about a 10-point lead for the first five minutes. The Bulls continued to pressure the away team, forcing them into some early foul trouble. Orlando got into the bonus with 5:48 left in the quarter, forcing them to play more passively and tone down the intensity on the defensive side. With the lack of intensity, the Magic did not commit another foul in the period, but they were outrebounded on both ends of the court. Chicago slowly but surely crept back into the game and cut Orlando’s lead significantly in the dying minutes, thanks to a complacent Magic team shooting just 16 shots all quarter compared to the home team's 23 shots. 

In the final two minutes, the Magic were losing grasp of the lead. The team failed to make a field goal within this time frame, and with the Bulls getting points from former Magic All-Star Vucevic and Caruso, the lead was cut to just two possessions. The Magic finally seemed to get some luck in the last 30 seconds of the game with Banchero getting a trip to the line to make it a three-possession game but only making one of his two free throws, keeping Chicago’s hopes alive.

After a long timeout, Lavine came in and hit a 3-point shot to cut the lead to two points and immediately fouled Anthony Black afterward to send him to the line. The rookie sank his first free throw and had the chance to bury the game and make it a four-point lead, but after missing his second, the Bulls were able to call their last timeout. The home team ran a similar play to their previous one, and it ended in the same result: a Lavine three-point shot, this time tying the game up. The Magic called their last timeout and drew up a play to have a struggling Banchero take the last shot. He was ultimately able to take on a wild turnaround jumper and drill it over three defenders to avoid overtime and win the game for Orlando.

After this wild game where the box score may have looked ugly, Orlando was able to squeak by a win and earn themselves a winning record once again. They will be back in Chicago for a tournament game in hopes of beating them once again on Thursday.