Orlando Magic 103-96 Golden State: Aaron Gordon stars in comeback win

The Orlando Magic proved again they can beat the best of the NBA.

They’ve also shown this week they can lose to some of the worst.

Aaron Gordon had 22 points and 15 rebounds, Terrence Ross added 16 points and the Magic rallied in the final three minutes to beat the Golden State Warriors 103-96 on Thursday night.

The Orlando Magic produced a late comeback to beat the Golden State Warriors on Thursday

Terrence Ross added 16 points and the Magic rallied in the final three minutes to win the game

Steph Curry hits the deck as the Warriors blew an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter

The win completes a week in which the Magic went 2-2, also beating Atlantic Division leader Toronto, but losing to the lowly New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls.

‘It’s complacency, we’ve got to beat complacency,’ Gordon said. ‘We showed again tonight we’re a good team, but we’ve got to learn to play at that level against everybody and not be complacent.’

A night after they were stunned in Miami by Dwyane Wade’s buzzer-beater, the Warriors blew an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter and lost for the fourth time in six games.

D.J. Augustin scored 14 points and Nikola Vucevic had 12 points and 13 rebounds to help Orlando end an 11-game losing streak to the Warriors. Orlando’s last win over Golden State was on December 14, 2012.

‘Playing up-and-down has been an issue for us all year, but we’re finally showing confidence in ourselves, especially in the fourth quarter,’ Vucevic said. ‘We didn’t have any focus against the Knicks the other night, but we stayed with it against (the Warriors) and it paid off. We need to do that every night now.’

Aaron Gordon dunks the ball during the game at Amway Center against Jordan Bell

Nikola Vucevic (9) had 12 points to help Orlando end their poor recent run against the Warriors

Stephen Curry scored 33 points, but was only one for six in the fourth quarter. Klay Thompson and DeMarcus Cousins each had 21 for the Warriors, who played without Kevin Durant (rest) and Andre Iguodala (sick).

Golden State were just seven of 23 in the fourth quarter, getting outscored 33-15. The Warriors hit just 9 of 40 (22.5 percent) from behind the 3-point line in the game. Curry was 5 of 17 on 3-pointers.

‘Steph is beating himself up a little bit because he knows he had a lot of open shots that didn’t go,’ Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. ‘I thought Orlando did a better job executing down the stretch than we did. I didn’t think we executed very well at either end of the floor, especially in the fourth quarter.’

It was the first time Golden State lost to Eastern Conference teams in back-to-back nights since March 1-2, 2013, at Boston and Philadelphia.

The Warriors, who trailed by eight at half-time, outscored Orlando 30-11 in the third period, limiting the Magic to five-of-23 shooting (21.7 per cent) and forcing four turnovers to take an 81-70 lead going into the fourth quarter.

The Magic roared back behind Ross, who hit three three-pointers to ignite a 15-4 run. His last three-pointer tied the game at 89-all with 4:16 left.

The Warriors outscored Orlando 30-11 in the third period but it did not prove to be enough

Gordon hugs DeMarcus Cousins at the end of the game as the Magic now focus on a road trip

Curry then fed Jordan Bell for a layup and converted an open 3-pointer to put Golden State back in front 94-89, but the lead didn’t last long.

The Magic ran off 10 straight points, including a 3-pointer by Gordon, who had nine points and six rebounds in the period.

‘Considering the way we finished the third quarter, we were pretty much in control of the game,’ Curry said. ‘But we missed a lot of shots and didn’t get any stops so it’s a frustrating way to end. This is a tough one.’

Golden State trailed from the opening minute until Draymond Green converted a fast-break layup to give the Warriors their first lead, 65-63 midway through the third quarter. That was part of a 16-3 run sparked mostly by the defense. Curry scored 10 straight Warriors points to help Golden State to an 11-point lead by the end of the period.