On Chris Bosh night, Heat falls flat in second half to lose to Magic
Tuesday night will be remembered for Chris Bosh’s jersey retirement, but the day didn’t end the way the Heat wanted it to.
After a halftime ceremony to retire Bosh’s No. 1 jersey, the Heat (36-38) fell flat. Orlando won the second half 62-48 to rally from a 17-point deficit and defeat Miami 104-99 at AmericanAirlines Arena in a game that carried major playoff implications.
The result moved the Magic (37-38), which was playing on the second night of a back-to-back, past the Heat in the standings. Orlando is now in the Eastern Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot and one-half game ahead of No. 9 Miami, with No. 10 Charlotte just one game behind the Heat.
Orlando also won the season series against Miami 3-1 and clinched the tiebreaker over the Heat should they finish tied in the standings.
The Heat led by 17 with 8:08 remaining in the second quarter, but the Magic chipped away to cut the deficit to nine entering halftime.
After an extended halftime to retire Bosh’s jersey, Orlando controlled the rest of the game. The Magic began the second half on a 21-11 run to take a one-point lead with 5:11 remaining in the third quarter, which was Orlando’s first lead of the game.
The Magic never looked back, with its lead growing to as many as eight points in the fourth quarter. Orlando center Nikola Vucevic led the charge with 24 points and 16 rebounds and five assists.
After scoring 51 points on 47.6 percent shooting in the first half, the Heat was held to 36.4 percent shooting over the final two quarters. Orlando shot 53.8 percent in the second half.
Dwyane Wade scored 22 for the Heat, including 12 in the fourth quarter. But not even Wade’s late-game heroics were enough.
Dion Waiters finished with a team-high 26 points for the Heat.
With just eight regular-season games remaining, next up for the Heat is a Thursday matchup against the Mavericks.
This story was originally published March 26, 2019 at 10:21 PM.
