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SACRAMENTO - After his team’s morning shootaround, Orlando Magic veteran center Nikola Vucevic mentioned paint points and rebounding as two of the main keys going into Tuesday’s matchup against the Sacramento Kings.
He was right.
The Magic outscored the Kings by 30 in the paint and outrebounded them by 14 en route to a 107-100 victory at the Golden 1 Center.
Another big factor was the turnover difference. Sacramento committed 21 turnovers, which led to 33 Magic points, while Orlando kept its miscues in check with just 14 of them.
“The guys did a great job, especially forcing turnovers,” Magic head coach Sean Sweeney said. “I thought we were really aggressive, did a great job with our hand activity a number of times. I thought we did a really good job with our communication, especially with (Darius) Acuff and (Zach) LaVine. Those guys are tough to guard. Good team effort.”
Franz Wagner led the way for the Magic with 33 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while Anthony Black recorded 26 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals and Desmond Bane, back after missing last game with an illness, finished with 15 points.
Although he had just five points Tuesday, Vucevic passed Magic Johnson for 93rd on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
LaVine racked up 31 points for the Kings, while rookie standout Acuff Jr. had 29 points and six assists.
With Sacramento within striking distance through three quarters, Orlando used an 8-2 run in the first few minutes of the fourth to seize control. Wagner, Black, Wendell Carter Jr. and Orlando’s unsung hero of the game, Alex Morales, all scored in the paint in that stretch.
Getting a boost from Morales was critical, especially with the Magic not having Paolo Banchero (ankle), Jalen Suggs (knee), Noah Penda (hamstring), Jonathan Isaac (knee) or Tristan da Silva (calf).
“It’s not easy when you don’t know how much you are going to play,” Wagner said. “Come in, play 29 minutes and play like that – big energy plays. It’s important to him. That guy is ready to go.”
This was the Magic’s fifth straight win against the Kings.
Orlando will look to build momentum off this win when it wraps up its four-game West Coast trip on Wednesday against the Utah Jazz at 9 p.m. ET.