Magic outscore Heat 37-8 in fourth quarter, overcome 25-point deficit and win 121-114

The story of Saturday’s duel between the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic was that Jimmy Butler missed the game due to illness. Suffering from a gastrointestinal illness, Butler sat out Friday’s first-quarter loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder and did not travel with the Heat to Orlando.

But the big takeaway from Miami’s 121-114 loss to the Magic is that the Heat blew a 25-point lead and took a 37-8 lead in the fourth quarter.

Cole Anthony scored 35 points off the bench, including 27 in the second half, to fuel Orlando’s comeback. The fifth-year guard also had eight rebounds and nine assists in by far his best game of the season.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 24 points while Goga Bitadze scored 18 points with 13 rebounds. With the win, the Magic improved to 18-12 and increased their lead over Miami in the Southeast Division to three games. Orlando also retained fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings.

The Heat took a 63-38 lead on a Kel’el Ware dunk with 5:17 left in the fourth quarter. They led 76-56 at halftime and increased the lead to 106-84 after three quarters. But Miami fell apart over the next 12 minutes as Orlando went on a 12-0 run to start the fourth.

Midway through the frame, Magic cut the lead to eight points. Orlando finally took the lead on a Caldwell-Pope jumper with 2:43 left. Miami shot 2-for-18 from the floor in the quarter, including 0-for-8 on 3-pointers.

Teams that have a 22-point lead early in the fourth quarter don’t lose, as Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press pointed out. Looking back five years, those teams with such a margin were 796-0.

Bam Adebayo and Terry Rozier each scored 23 points to lead the Heat, while Tyler Herro followed with 22 points, six rebounds and five assists. Replacing Butler, Dru Smith scored 14 goals and Nikola Jović contributed just four after being moved into the starting lineup.

Orlando was without Jalen Suggs, who suffered a sprained ankle in Thursday’s 105-99 loss to the Thunder. That meant the Magic were missing their top three scorers: Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner were recovering from oblique injuries.

The Heat face the Brooklyn Nets on Monday before playing the Magic again on Thursday. Orlando continues its big comeback win with a match against the Boston Celtics on Monday.