Reserve Shaedon Sharpe poured in 23 points and the Portland Trail Blazers cruised to a 119-90 victory over the visiting Orlando Magic on Thursday night.
Sharpe did a good portion of his damage from beyond the arc, where he went 3-for-6 as part of a 9-for-14 performance from the field. Scoot Henderson also had 23 points to go along with seven assists, and Deandre Ayton chipped in 22 points for Portland, which is 6-1 over its past seven games.
The Trail Blazers virtually put the game away in the third quarter, getting 3-pointers from Dalano Banton and Henderson and a three-point play from Sharpe during a 13-0 run that provided Portland with an 87-62 cushion with 3:37 to go.
Franz Wagner did everything he could to keep Orlando in striking distance, throwing home a dunk, tipping in a miss and making good on four free throws to help the Magic get within 91-73 by the end of the third.
However, Orlando trailed by at least 15 for the entirety of the fourth.
Wagner finished with a team-high 24 points as the Magic fell for the seventh time in eight games. Paolo Banchero paired 21 points with six rebounds, and Cole Anthony came off the bench to rack up 16 points.
Orlando got outshot 52.6 percent to 42 percent overall. It made only five 3-pointers (on 26 attempts).
Banchero netted eight points over the first 12 minutes to help Orlando take a 35-28 lead into the second quarter.
The Magic were still up by seven, 40-33, with 10:08 to go in the first half before Portland completely took over.
After jumping in front at 45-44, the Trail Blazers scored 17 of the final 26 points of the second quarter to lead 62-53 at the break. Henderson headlined Portland’s feverish charge with nine points in a span of 2:56.
