An additional 10 minutes were needed to decide a winner between the No. 7 seeds in the East and West when the Magic met the Suns inside Mortgage Matchup Center on Saturday night.
Both Phoenix and Orlando took double-digit leads in regulation but found themselves tied at 96 following four quarters of action and then tied again at 103 after the first five-minute overtime period.
Ultimately, it was the Suns who finished on top in double overtime, 113-110, thanks to a Jalen Green buzzer-beating corner 3-pointer.
With 56 seconds left in regulation, Anthony Black stole the ball away from Grayson Allen and dunked it on the other end to tie the game at 96 and eventually force overtime. Paolo Banchero (26 points) tied the game at 103 with a driving dunk with just over a minute left in the first overtime period.
After Jevon Carter sunk a corner 3 to tie the game at 110 with 1.1 seconds left in the second overtime period, Green punched right back and delivered a thrilling victory for Phoenix.
The Suns did a solid job of taking advantage of extra opportunities, holding a 23-13 edge in second-chance scoring with 22 offensive rebounds. Phoenix also scored 22 points off 16 Orlando turnovers.
While the Suns (33-24) were without Devin Booker (right hip strain), the Magic were missing Jalen Suggs (back spasms) and Franz Wagner (left high ankle sprain injury management).
The Magic (29-26) have a quick turnaround, traveling to Los Angeles to take on the Clippers on Sunday night.
The Bane event
Desmond Bane came out firing, knocking down his first seven shots from the floor, including his first three 3-pointers.
After a 14-point first quarter, the Magic guard kept it up in the second and scored 22 of Orlando’s first 37 points. The 22-point first half was Bane’s eighth 20-point half of the season.
Bane scored in a number of ways, whether it was penetrating the paint, hitting from distance or getting to the free-throw line. He scored 30-plus points for the eighth time this season.
Bane, however, fouled out less than a minute into the first overtime.
Banchero boost
After a 1-for-5 start from the floor in the first quarter, Banchero scored seven points in the second quarter to have 11 by the half.
Banchero added 14 rebounds and eight assists to go with four blocks.
Carter’s contribution
Carter scored in double figures for a second game in a row while coming off the bench first for Orlando again.
Despite starting 1 for 6 from 3-point range, Carter scored 12 points in his first 14 minutes.
He added two rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks.
Phoenix’s bench outscored Orlando’s 58-28.
Suggs update
Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said before the game that Suggs’ back was “bothering him a little bit” during the practice before Thursday’s game at Sacramento.
Suggs still played 20 minutes against the Kings, registering nine points, three rebounds and three assists with three turnovers, but he only saw nine minutes of action in the second half.
“He went into the game and you could just see him kind of laboring a little bit as the game went on,” Mosley said. “And I think after halftime it tightened up on him. So, that’s what’s kind of giving him problems.”