ORLANDO, Fla. — The Washington Wizards have dominated the Orlando Magic over the past three seasons and all-star guard John Wall is a big reason why.
Wall scored 24 points, handed out 10 assists and controlled the tempo from start to finish as the Wizards beat the Magic, 105-99 on Saturday night.
The victory snapped a three-game losing streak and gave the Wizards a sweep of the four-game season series. Orlando hasn’t beaten Washington since March 29, 2013, a span of 12 games.
“Most of them have been close games, but we compete and fight,” Wall said. “We do a great job against them defensively, we get rebounds and we get out and run. Just getting out and running gives our team a lot of advantages.”
Wall pushed the pace on nearly every possession, moving the ball swiftly from side to side and creating open shots for teammates. Washington shot 55.3 percent and had 29 assists.
All five Wizards starters scored in double figures, along with reserve Gary Neal. Otto Porter, Jared Dudley and Neal each scored 16 points, Marcin Gortat had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Garrett Temple added 11 points.
“I’m glad we’re done with them, to be honest,” Washington coach Randy Wittman said. “We didn’t play stellar. We had some bad stretches, turned the ball over, but our intensity never wavered. It didn’t affect us defensively and that’s how you get through bad stretches.”
The Magic were good in spurts and awful in others, when turnovers and poor shot selection kept them from ever getting control of the game. The Magic couldn’t keep up with Washington’s speed and allowed the aggressive Wizards to contain them defensively.
Nikola Vucevic led Orlando with 23 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Victor Oladipo scored 17 points and Channing Frye had 12, all in the first half. Aaron Gordon had 10 points and 10 rebounds for Orlando, which has lost five of six.
“All four games they put us in a blender. … They owned us,” Magic coach Scott Skiles said. “For whatever reason, against us, they play a much more physical game and we just haven’t responded to that.”
Washington had a 100-90 lead with less than three minutes left when Wall made a 3-pointer from approximately 30 feet away.
The Wizards led by double digits throughout the second half until Tobias Harris’ layup cut Orlando’s deficit to 94-86 with 5:14 remaining.
The Magic, who struggled offensively most of the night, hit 13 of 17 shots in the fourth quarter and there was enough time for one last rally, but Wall kept the Wizards in front.
The point guard fed Dudley for a 3-pointer to quiet the crowd, then pushed the shot clock near expiration before unloading from three or four steps behind the 3-point line. A minute later, he nailed one more pull-up jumper from 20 feet out.
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