Spencer Dinwiddie scored a season-high 29 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, as the Brooklyn Nets pulled away down the stretch for a 124-104 victory over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night in an NBA in-season tournament game in New York.
The Nets improved to 2-1 in East Group C and won their second straight game thanks to Dinwiddie, who helped Brooklyn turn a two-point, fourth-quarter lead into a double-digit victory.
After Orlando’s Jonathan Isaac hit a 3-pointer a little over a minute into the fourth to get the Magic within 91-89, Royce O’Neale and Lonnie Walker IV hit threes to extend the lead to 97-89 with about 9 1/2 minutes left.
Dinwiddie began his small binge by hitting a 3-pointer with 8:13 left, converting a three-point play with 7:11 to go and hitting another trey with 6:37 left for a 106-92 lead.
Dinwiddie, who made 10 of 18 shots overall, hit another triple with 3:16 left to up the lead to 116-97 and clinch Brooklyn’s third straight home victory. He also handed out a season-best-tying nine assists.
Mikal Bridges added 21 points and Cameron Johnson contributed 11 of his 20 in the third to help Brooklyn erase a seven-point deficit.
O’Neale contributed 13 points while Day’Ron Sharpe and Walker added 11 apiece as the Nets made 13 of 17 shots in the fourth and shot 54.1 percent overall.
Franz Wagner led Orlando with 21 points, but the Magic scored 18 points in the final quarter of their first tournament game. Paolo Banchero added 19 but shot 6 of 15 as the Magic shot 43.9 percent.
The Nets held a 33-19 lead on a 3-pointer by O’Neale with 56 seconds left in the first quarter but went ice cold, and Orlando capitalized. The Magic countered the early deficit with a 26-5 run and opened a 45-38 lead on a trey by Banchero with 5:28 left in the second and took a 60-57 advantage by halftime.
A 3-pointer by Banchero and a layup by Wagner pushed Orlando’s lead to 79-73 with 4:11 left in the third. The Nets outscored Orlando 15-7 the rest of the quarter and took a two-point lead into the fourth.
–Field Level Media
