ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Anothert Heat-Magic game, another late comeback.
And this one went Miami's way.
On Saturday, it was Orlando with the rally to beat Miami. On Thursday, on the same court, it was the Heat who found a way at the end to beat the Magic.
Tyler Herro's jumper with a half-second left gave Miami an 89-88 victory on Thursday night — a game that came less than a week after the Heat wasted a 22-point, fourth-quarter lead and lost to the Magic.
“Just got to my spot,” Herro said.
Miami trailed 71-61 going into the fourth quarter Thursday. It was the first time — spanning 74 games — that the Heat rallied from double digits down entering the final quarter of a regular-season game and won since Oct. 26, 2019, at Milwaukee.
“I don't know if it was our best win this year,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “But it was definitely our toughest win this season.”
The last Orlando-Miami game ended with the Magic on a big run. And on Thursday, the Magic started the rematch with another flurry.
The Magic scored the first 14 points of Thursday's game against the Heat, coming on the heels of Orlando outscoring Miami 37-8 in the fourth quarter of their matchup on Saturday — a huge rally that capped a comeback from as much as a 25-point deficit.
Add up the fourth quarter Saturday and the start on Thursday, and it was a 51-8 Orlando run over about 17 minutes of game time — separated by a few days, of course. The 14-0 run was Orlando's biggest to start a game since it took a 15-0 lead to open things against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 4, 2001.
Miami closed the gap Thursday to 31-22 by the end of the first quarter. The Heat trailed most of the way Thursday, but found a way at the end — thanks in large part to 23 turnovers that led to 25 Miami points.
“That's the game right there,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
