Magic hand Knicks season-high third straight loss with 103-94 victory

NEW YORK (AP) - Cole Anthony scored 24 points, Wendell Carter Jr. had a season-high 19 off the bench and the Orlando Magic shut down a New York Knicks team missing Karl-Anthony Towns for a 103-94 victory on Monday night.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 15 points for the Magic, who are missing their top four scorers because of injuries but didn’t need too much offense the way they defended. They limited the Knicks to 4-for-22 shooting from 3-point range and didn’t allow a make in the second half until Cam Payne’s basket with 8.2 seconds remaining.

Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges each scored 24 points for the Knicks, who were held to their lowest point total of the season in their season-high third straight loss. Towns, averaging 25.3 points and an NBA-leading 14 rebounds, sat with right knee pain.

The Magic came in with no healthy players averaging double figures, but got contributions from most of the players they had, outscoring the Knicks 50-18 in bench points.

Magic: The Magic don’t let their offensive problems affect their defensive intensity, and those offensive problems should ease up once they get some bodies back.

Knicks: A team that averages nearly 118 points could never sustain a good flow without Towns, as the Magic’s size forced the Knicks to use Jericho Sims, who isn’t an offensive threat.

The Knicks scored four straight points to get within six, then won a challenge to overturn a foul that was called on Josh Hart and get the ball back. But they didn’t score, and Caldwell-Pope and Carter made 3s in a 7-2 spurt that pushed it to 95-84 with 3:05 remaining.

Orlando avoided a four-game sweep by winning the final meeting, keeping the lead in the all-time series at 68-66.

The Knicks host Toronto on Wednesday. Orlando hosts Minnesota on Thursday.

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