Heat rallies late, but still falls to Magic in season opener

This wasn’t the start the Miami Heat was hoping for.

The start of the game was fine, as the Heat built a 14-point first-quarter lead. It’s the start to the Heat’s season that didn’t go as planned.

The Orlando Magic rallied from that early deficit and survived a late Miami rally in a 104-101 season-opening win over the Heat on Wednesday at Amway Center.

After Miami regained some momentum to take a five-point lead with 2:36 remaining in the third quarter, Orlando outscored the Heat 34-26 the rest of the way.

Miami did rally, though, coming back from an 11-point deficit with 2:59 to play. In fact, the Heat had the ball down by just one with 3.5 seconds remaining, but Josh Richardson stepped out of bounds on a drive to the basket for a turnover to ruin its chances of completing the dramatic comeback.

Aaron Gordon led the Magic with 26 points and 16 rebounds.

It was a struggle for the Heat’s offense, as it shot 39.2 percent from the field and 9 of 33 from three-point range.

Goran Dragic led Miami with a team-high 26 points on 9 of 14 shooting and four assists.

Hassan Whiteside recorded a double-double with 12 points and 18 rebounds, while Josh Richardson scored 21 on 8 of 21 shooting. Dwyane Wade finished with nine points on 3 of 13 shooting.

The Heat played with a shorthanded roster, as Wayne Ellington (sore left ankle), Justise Winslow (hamstring tightness), James Johnson (sports hernia surgery) and Waiters (left ankle surgery) did not play. All four players are also expected to miss the second game of Miami’s season-opening back-to-back set Thursday against the Washington Wizards.

The Heat went with a starting lineup of Dragic, Richardson, Rodney McGruder, Derrick Jones Jr. and Whiteside to open the season.

This story was originally published October 17, 2018 at 9:52 PM.