WASHINGTON _ The Orlando Magic look nothing like the inept, divided team that left Central Florida on Nov. 28 for a make-or-break road trip.
They have hope now.
They have swagger.
They have four more wins.
The Magic have turned their season around. They beat the Washington Wizards and old nemesis John Wall, 124-116, on Tuesday night at the Verizon Center.
The Magic won four of five games on their road trip. It was their most successful trip since they started their long, frustrating rebuilding project in 2012.
The signature moment occurred midway through Tuesday's third quarter, with Orlando already ahead 76-58. Serge Ibaka blocked a short-range shot by Marcin Gortat, and Ibaka turned to the Magic bench and flashed his signature block celebration: He raised both arms skyward and pointed both thumbs downward. The entire Magic bench _ Jeff Green, Mario Hezonja, Elfrid Payton, Nikola Vucevic, C.J. Watson and C.J. Wilcox among them _ replicated the celebration in their seats.
Seconds later, on the other end of the court, D.J. Augustin fed Bismack Biyombo, and Biyombo dunked to extend the Magic's lead to 78-58. Biyombo faced the Magic bench and mimicked Ibaka's celebration, too.
The Magic (10-12) haven't had that kind of fun since, well, the days of Dwight Howard.
Payton enjoyed one of the best nights of his pro career. He made his first nine shot attempts and finished with a career-high 25 points to go along with nine assists.
Jodie Meeks, playing his third game of the season, added 18 points
There were a few hiccups against the Wizards (7-13).
Wall played the entire second half and scored a career-high 52 points and dished out eight assists. With him on the court, nothing seemed safe for Orlando.
It wasn't safe.
The Wizards pulled within 109-100 on a driving layup by Bradley Beal with 6:26 to go.
About a minute later, Vucevic made a pair of free throws to slow Washington's momentum.
For a while early in the game, Orlando lacked energy.
The Magic opened the game poorly on offense, making only five of their first 15 shot attempts and committing three turnovers in the game's first eight minutes.
Then, Payton and Meeks supplied a jolt.
Meeks made his first three 3-point attempts.
Payton made his all eight of his shot attempts in the first half, including three 3-pointers.
Payton's uncharacteristic outburst gave him 22 first-half points _ two shy of his career high in an entire game of 24 points, set on Nov. 18, 2015.
As Payton and Meeks brought offense, Ibaka and Biyombo provided the defense.
Ibaka and Biyombo blocked two shots apiece in the first half and altered a bunch more.
With about 30 seconds remaining in the first half, Ibaka found himself guarding Wall on the perimeter. Wall feinted and deked, but Ibaka kept Wall in front of him. Ultimately, the Wizards settled for an errant 3-point try by Beal.
Wall and the Wizards had one more opportunity before halftime to cut the gap, and Wall dribbled forward toward the Magic hoop and put up a layup try just before the buzzer. But Biyombo swatted the shot away to protect Orlando's lead at 65-52.
The Magic had lost four consecutive games before they left for their road trip to San Antonio, Memphis, Philadelphia, suburban Detroit and Washington. At the time, it looked like the Magic's season could unravel.
But they upset the Spurs, narrowly lost to the Grizzlies, defeated the 76ers on the second night of a back-to-back and shocked the Pistons.
On Tuesday, they snapped a 13-game losing streak against the Wizards in games that Wall played.
Suddenly, the Magic have new life.
They may have found their identity on the road.
