The Orlando Magic fell to the Denver Nuggets 121-111 at Ball Arena Monday to close out their four-game West Coast swing.
The defeat dropped the Magic (13-46) to 1-3 on the road trip, with their lone win coming against the Portland Trail Blazers kick off the swing.
Orlando, which trailed by as many as 22 in the second quarter and 21 in the fourth, cut Denver’s lead to 112-104 with 1:32 remaining but didn’t pull off a successful comeback attempt
Wendell Carter Jr. finished with 25 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. He averaged 19.8 points, 10 rebounds and 3.3 assists on the trip.
Franz Wagner had a team-high 26 points (8 of 16), 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals, with all of his points coming after the first quarter. Gary Harris recorded 15 points (6 of 12), 6 assists, 4 steals and 3 rebounds in 35 minutes off the bench against his former team.
Orlando scored 29 points off the Nuggets’ 23 turnovers. The Magic had 15 giveaways of their own, including 12 in the first half.
Nikola Jokić, the reigning MVP, finished with 26 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists. Six Nuggets scored in double figures.
Denver shot 47.7% (42 of 88) and 40% (16 of 40) on 3-pointers compared to Orlando’s 44.4% (40 of 91) shooting, including 28.2% (11 of 39) on 3s.
The Magic will return home to play the Atlanta Hawks at 7 p.m. Wednesday in their last game before the All-Star Break.
