![\"Orlando](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/01kj4b7phd66nangxt6a.jpg\" "\\"Orlando")
<\/p>\nAfter a gut-wrenching loss to Phoenix, Orlando Magic responded emphatically in Southern California, escaping Intuit Center with a 111-109 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. What were a few of our takeaways? Let’s examine!<\/p>\n
Desmond Bane continues to be focal point of offense:<\/p>\n
Feb 21, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane (3) celebrates a shot against the Phoenix Suns in the second half at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
Coming off a 34-point performance in double overtime against Phoenix, Magic guard Desmond Bane picked up right where he left off as the Magic’s primary engine offensively. Bane scored a team-high 36 points on 13-of-19 shooting, despite being an uncharacteristic 6-of-10 from the free-throw line (he was a 92.8 percent foul shooter on the season). <\/p>\n
Over his previous five games, he was 20-of-35 from deep. In the Magic’s two-point nailbiter, he continued that hot streak, canning 4-of-6 from deep, elevating his 3-point percentage to 38.8 on the year and 43.7 percent over since the turn of the calendar.<\/p>\n
Where would they currently be without the 27-year-old? They wouldn’t be in a more favorable position (in the W-L column), that’s for sure.<\/p>\n
Magic survive a Kawhi Leonard eruption in second half:![\"Magic](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/01kj4b8y4snnvhy0bh95.jpg\" "\\"Magic")
<\/p>\n
Feb 22, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) dunks the ball against Orlando Magic guard Jett Howard (13) in the first half at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
Orlando led by four entering the first half. The two most concerning parts were that the Clippers were just 1-of-11 from deep, and didn’t quite feel like Kawhi was fully awake offensively. He was still very impactful, but we all know the stretches that the seven-time All-Star is capable of having.<\/p>\n
The latter didn’t last long.<\/p>\n
Leonard scored 25 points in the second half — including 18 in the third alone — keeping the game within distance for the Clippers, who finished the night 5-of-23 from beyond the arc. He makes scoring the rock look so effortless, routinely getting to his spots and confidently rising over the Magic defenders.<\/p>\n
Orlando escaped, but Leonard counterpunched all night. He tallied a game-high 37 points with eight rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks. Leonard was phenomenal.<\/p>\n
Magic continues to play well on back-to-backs:![\"Magic](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/01kj4cy3prxsba4g9y0j.jpg\" "\\"Magic")
<\/p>\n
Feb 21, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley against the Phoenix Suns at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
Most NBA teams play between 13-16 back-to-backs per season. Every team has to deal with them; they’re unfortunately a byproduct of the league’s schedule. Although it’s not every team has to play a back-to-back a little over 24 hours after playing a physical double-overtime thriller.<\/p>\n
Well, the Magic did. And they matched the Clippers’ physicality throughout the night. <\/p>\n
Orlando’s been consistently inconsistent this season, although it’s now 6-2 on the second night of back-to-backs, the second-best record in the NBA. Only Detroit’s 8-1 record is better.<\/p>\n
The Magic have won three straight back-to-back affairs — dating back to mid-December.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a gut-wrenching loss to Phoenix, Orlando Magic responded emphatically in Southern California, escaping Intuit Center with a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":165668,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-165667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}