Glen Davis scored 28 points to help the Orlando Magic top the Minnesota Timberwolves 102-93 Monday night and register their third straight victory.
The first half was dominated by the Timberwolves, but the Magic rallied in the second half to taste a thrilling victory against Minnesota.
"It boiled down to who was going to be the aggressor, that team was going to win," the Associated Press quoted Magic coach Jacque Vaughn as saying. "That was my message at halftime. It was good to see our bigs respond to that kind of physicality."
J.J. Redick added 18 points, seven assists and shot eight of 11 attempts from the floor, while Nikola Vucevic scored 14 points and chipped in with 11 rebounds to score his third double-double in the last three games for the Magic.
Gustavo Ayon had nine points, while Arron Afflalo finished with 13 points and five rebounds to help his team stop Minnesota's four-game winning streak.
Minnesota started off well by outscoring the Magic 29-27 in the first quarter. They extended the lead to 12 points at halftime by scoring 32 points against the opponents' 22 in the second quarter, but could not keep the momentum going in the second half.
The third quarter belonged to the Magic as they easily outscored the Timberwolves 25-17 and reduced Minnesota's lead to four points.
For the Timberwolves, the top scorer Kevin Love added 23 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and had three steals, while Nikola Pekovic finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds and shot eight of 18 attempts from the field.
Minnesota did not shoot well against the Magic as they had only 39 out of 96 attempts from the floor, while the Magic shot 44 of 82 from the field. In the second half, Minnesota shot a dismal 31.9 percent, with Love and Pekovic shoot only five of 18 from the field in the second period.
"What happened in the second half is exactly what has been happening the last few games," Pekovic said. "We have a good first half and then lose our concentration. They played good. They didn't give up, even when they were losing by 15. They just kept playing."
The Timberwolves were leading 87-85 with six minutes remaining in the game, but with the help of a 9-0 run Orlando took a 94-87 lead with 3.23 remaining.
The run was started by a three-pointer from Affalo. With the help of Davis' six straight points and Redick's layup, the Magic took a 102-91 lead with 44 seconds left, before seeing off the rest of the game.
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