Wendell Carter Jr. scored 28 points and the Orlando Magic beat Dallas 138-127 on Friday night, overcoming a 51-point performance from rookie No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg and handing the Mavericks their 14th straight home loss.<\/p>\n
Desmond Bane added 27 points as the Magic stayed a half-game behind eighth-place Charlotte in the Eastern Conference. Orlando is locked into the play-in tournament with an outside chance at reaching the top six for an automatic playoff berth.<\/p>\n
Coach Jason Kidd and Maji Marshall were ejected seconds apart early in the fourth quarter for the lottery-bound Mavericks, who are on their longest home losing streak since the American Airlines Center opened 25 years ago. Dallas dropped its first 19 home games of the 1993-94 season at Reunion Arena.<\/p>\n
Flagg was involved in the sequence that led to Kidd’s ejection, drawing a technical foul after arguing a non-call. Kidd stepped onto the court moments later, apparently protesting the same play.<\/p>\n
The 19-year-old responded with 24 points in the fourth quarter, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to score 50 in a game.<\/p>\n
Assistant coach Frank Vogel, filling in for Kidd, briefly sat Flagg late in the fourth when he had 45 points. After returning, Flagg hit a corner 3, then reached 50 with a bucket and a foul. He made the free throw and exited to a standing ovation.<\/p>\n
Flagg finished 19 of 30 from the field, including 6 of 9 from deep, and made all seven free throws.<\/p>\n
Jalen Suggs and Tristan da Silva scored 19 points each for Orlando, and Franz Wagner added 18.<\/p>\n
Brandon Williams scored 23 for Dallas.<\/p>\n
P.J. Washington Jr., the Mavericks’ third-leading scorer, missed his third straight game with an illness.<\/p>\n
UP NEXT<\/p>\n
Magic: At New Orleans on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Mavericks: Host the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.<\/p>\n