TORONTO — The Orlando Magic have apparently decided that Wednesday's 30-point loss to the Raptors was a clerical error.
Two days after getting embarrassed in Toronto, Orlando returned to Scotiabank Arena on Friday and won 121–114, producing the kind of reversal normally associated with a team insisting it has never met its previous opponent.
Desmond Bane scored 28 points, Franz Wagner added 26 points and 11 assists, and the Magic made 18 three-pointers after connecting on just 10 of 35 attempts in Wednesday's defeat.
In other words, the basket was back where Orlando remembered leaving it.
The Magic's offensive transformation was particularly striking because virtually none of the relevant equipment had changed. Same arena. Same opposing team. Same basketball dimensions.
Different results, which Orlando would presumably prefer everyone to treat as the only ones on record.
Toronto didn't exactly cooperate with the new narrative. Scottie Barnes scored a career-high 41 points, and the Raptors briefly moved ahead in the fourth quarter.
But Orlando responded with a 13–4 run, restoring control before anyone could ask whether Wednesday's version of the Magic had returned.
The victory offered a reminder that early-season basketball is rarely as permanent as it looks. A team can be incapable of shooting on Wednesday and suddenly resemble a collection of professional basketball players by Friday.
Orlando now has the perfect response to anyone questioning its offense.
What Wednesday?
