A lead of at least 22 points with 12 minutes left means victory in the NBA. Over the last five years, including playoffs, there had been 796 instances of a team having such a lead entering the fourth quarter.
Their record: 796-0.
Their record now: 796-1.
The Orlando Magic pulled off a rally they'll surely remember, and the Miami Heat had a collapse they surely won't soon forget. The Magic outscored the Heat 37-8 in the fourth quarter to pull off an improbable 121-114 victory on Saturday night, winning a game in which they trailed by 25 in the first half and were down 22 with one quarter remaining.
“You can't really explain that,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “That's something I haven't seen. I have not seen that ever in my years in the league, the ability to stay with it despite all of the circumstances that started in the beginning of the game.”
Heat captain Bam Adebayo was more succinct.
“We relaxed because we were up,” Adebayo said. “I feel like that's the karma of the game.”
The Magic were playing without Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs and Gary Harris — and lost Moritz Wagner to what may be a serious knee injury in the first quarter.
Depleted, they somehow still tied the biggest comeback in franchise history.
“This is the modern NBA right now, right? The 20-point lead is not what it was a decade ago and you have to finish all the way through," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Some of the numbers were just baffling:
— Orlando’s 29-point margin in the fourth quarter was the biggest in any game since Phoenix outscored New Orleans by 29 on Feb. 19, 2021.
— Miami’s eight points in the fourth quarter were the fewest by any team in any quarter this season.
— The last time Orlando trailed by 25 in a game and won was 1989.
“It's a group that just continues to fight,” Mosley said.
The last time a team trailed by 22 or more entering the fourth quarter and won was Dec. 22, 2019, when the Toronto Raptors — down by 30 at one point, down by 23 with 12 minutes left — beat the Dallas Mavericks 110-107.
It was statistically bizarre. The Heat had their best-scoring quarter of the season (40 in the first), best-scoring half of the season (76 in the first), worst-scoring quarter of the season (8 in the fourth) and worst-scoring half of the season (38 in the second) — all in the same night.
The fourth quarter saw Orlando shoot 14 for 23 — and Miami shoot 2 for 18. Cole Anthony had 13 points in the final quarter for the Magic, finishing with 35 points, eight rebounds and nine assists off the bench.
And that was another statistical oddity: Such a stat line for someone off the bench had happened only once since 1982 — Stephen Curry had 40 points, eight rebounds and nine assists for Golden State in a playoff game in 2016, not starting that game because he had been sidelined by a sprained knee.
“I'm so happy for this team, man,” Anthony said.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
Orlando Magic forward Tristan da Silva (23) looks for a shot as Miami Heat guard Pelle Larsson (9) tries to defend during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo, left, is pressured by Orlando Magic center Goga Bitadze as he tries to get to the basket during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Orlando Magic players from left, Jonathan Isaac (1), Cory Joseph, Trevelin Queen (12) and Tristan da Silva (23) celebrate a win during the final moments an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Orlando Magic guard Cole Anthony, right, celebrates a shot against the Miami Heat with teammate guard Trevelin Queen during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Two U.S. Navy pilots were shot down Sunday over the Red Sea in an apparent “friendly fire” incident, the U.S military said, marking the most serious incident to threaten troops in over a year of America targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels.
Both pilots were recovered alive after ejecting from their stricken aircraft, with one suffering minor injuries. But the shootdown underlines just how dangerous the Red Sea corridor has become over the ongoing attacks on shipping by the Iranian-backed Houthis despite U.S. and European military coalitions patrolling the area.
The U.S. military had conducted airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels at the time, though the U.S. military’s Central Command did not elaborate on what their mission was and did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press.
The F/A-18 shot down had just flown off the deck of the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, Central Command said. On Dec. 15, Central Command acknowledged the Truman had entered the Mideast, but hadn't specified that the carrier and its battle group was in the Red Sea.
“The guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, which is part of the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, mistakenly fired on and hit the F/A-18,” Central Command said in a statement.
From the military's description, the aircraft shot down was a two-seat F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet assigned to the “Red Rippers” of Strike Fighter Squadron 11 out of Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia.
It wasn't immediately clear how the Gettysburg could mistake an F/A-18 for an enemy aircraft or missile, particularly as ships in a battle group remain linked by both radar and radio communication.
However, Central Command said that warships and aircraft earlier shot down multiple Houthi drones and an anti-ship cruise missile launched by the rebels. Incoming hostile fire from the Houthis has given sailors just seconds to make decisions in the past.
Since the Truman's arrival, the U.S. has stepped up its airstrikes targeting the Houthis and their missile fire into the Red Sea and the surrounding area. However, the presence of an American warship group may spark renewed attacks from the rebels, like what the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower saw earlier this year. That deployment marked what the Navy described as its most intense combat since World War II.
On Saturday night and early Sunday, U.S. warplanes conducted airstrikes that shook Sanaa, the capital of Yemen that the Houthis have held since 2014. Central Command described the strikes as targeting a “missile storage facility” and a “command-and-control facility,” without elaborating.
Houthi-controlled media reported strikes in both Sanaa and around the port city of Hodeida, without offering any casualty or damage information. In Sanaa, strikes appeared particularly targeted at a mountainside known to be home to military installations. The Houthis did not acknowledge the aircraft being shot down in the Red Sea.
The Houthis have targeted about 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip started in October 2023 after Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage.
Israel’s grinding offensive in Gaza has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, local health officials say. The tally doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians.
The Houthis have seized one vessel and sunk two in a campaign that has also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by separate U.S.- and European-led coalitions in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have also included Western military vessels.
The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the U.S. or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.
The Houthis also have increasingly targeted Israel itself with drones and missiles, resulting in retaliatory Israeli airstrikes.
The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG 64) steams in the Mediterranean Sea, Dec. 15, 2025. (Kaitlin Young/U.S. Navy via AP)
FILE - Aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman is moored near Split, Croatia, Feb. 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic, File)
FILE - A fighter jet maneuvers on the deck of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Red Sea, June 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)
