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Magic secure first Las Vegas Summer League win in battle vs. Heat
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- Magic secure first Las Vegas Summer League win in battle vs. Heat
LAS VEGAS — The Magic and the Heat met seven times between the preseason and regular season in 2025-26, so it was only fitting the in-state rivals faced off against each other again at Summer League on Saturday afternoon.
In a back-and-forth battle between the Sunshine State foes, Orlando took control in the third quarter by leaning on its defense in order to secure its first win in Las Vegas, 93-88, against Miami inside Cox Pavilion on the campus of UNLV.
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Magic second-year guard Jase Richardson (15 points), two-way center Colin Castleton (15), guard Lester Quinones (15) and second-year forward Noah Penda (12) combined for 57 points in the five-point victory.
"The thing I was proudest about is (that) they had 36 points in the second half," Magic Summer League coach D.J. Bakker said about the Heat .
Orlando trailed by six points at the half after Miami controlled the paint early, but the Magic responded well in the third quarter by outscoring the Heat 33-18 across the shorter 10-minute Summer League period.
For Miami, the duo of Trevor Keels (32) and Jahmir Young (27) combined for 59 points, but only scored 25 points total in the second half.
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"The energy across the board was really good," Bakker said about the third quarter. "You even saw it offensively with the offensive rebounds. So, I say the offensive rebounds because typically when you're crashing the glass, there's energy.
"And then you heard the bench — the bench started getting louder," he added. "Then the players started talking more. It's one thing leads to another. It's maintaining that and then sustaining that for a longer period of time."
Castleton scored the majority of his points in the paint and added one 3-pointer from the top of the key. After facing a tough challenge against Charlotte's 7-foot-1 Ryan Kalkbrenner on Thursday night, Castleton found himself battling with Heat 7-footer Vladislav Goldin . Castleton limited Goldin to six points.
Penda got off to a slow start, taking just one shot in the opening quarter; at times, he faced multiple defenders. While his afternoon was highlighted by a challenging step-back triple early in the third quarter and later a clutch block on Goldin with 15.1 seconds left in the game, he recorded six turnovers.
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"His size and his frame, him being so big, I feel like he could be an elite level defender," Quinones said about Penda. "He kind of predetermined his move, was just there and just swatted it away. That was crazy. That was impressive by Noah."
Magic second-round pick Izaiyah Nelson was often vocal on defense and helped direct traffic on that end of the court while recording two steals and a block in 17 minutes. The rookie forward added six points with two assists and two rebounds. Orlando's bench outscored Miami's 32-8.
Key contributions from Magic reserves included nine points apiece from TyTy Washington Jr . and Philip Wheeler.
The Magic made a concerted effort to push the pace and get down the court as quickly as possible. That led to some poor decisions, which led to a bevy of turnovers. The Heat totaled 13 points off 19 takeaways.
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Magic forward Jamal Cain , who previously spent time in Miami on a two-way contract, was in attendance. So were various members of Orlando's front office, including president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman, general manager Anthony Parker, senior advisor to Weltman, John Hammond, and executive vice president of basketball operations Pete D'Alessandro.
Orlando has a quick turnaround when it returns to Cox Pavilion on Sunday, concluding a back-to-back against the Trail Blazers (7 p.m., ESPNU). After Sunday's game, the Magic next play Wednesday at 4 p.m. against the 76ers .
Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com
