ORLANDO, Fla. — Aaron Gordon scored 20 of his 31 points in the first quarter, and the Orlando Magic held off two rallies to beat the skidding Knicks, 131-117, on Sunday night.
Nikola Vucevic had 28 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists for Orlando, which has won seven of nine. Jonathan Isaac added 16 points.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 32 points for the Knicks, who lost their fifth straight. Trey Burke added 31, and Enes Kanter finished with 21 points and 19 rebounds.
The Magic shot 57 percent and set a season high for points, surpassing the 130 they scored Saturday night against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Isaac’s big fourth quarter included a block of Hardaway that led to a fast break and a dunk that left the Magic ahead by 116-104 with 5 minutes 27 seconds left.
Orlando made its first 10 shots (seven by Gordon) and led, 28-10, when D. J. Augustin hit a 3-pointer midway through the first quarter. Gordon had 20 points when he took a seat on the bench with 3:54 left in the period.
Burke and Kanter came off the bench to get the Knicks back in it quickly. Burke scored 16 points in the first half and Kanter had 14 points and 16 rebounds, including nine at the offensive end.
Noah Vonleh closed the first half with a 3-pointer for the Knicks to cut the deficit to 67-66.
A layup by Gordon got Orlando’s lead back up to 12 in the third quarter, but Burke and Hardaway answered with all of the Knicks’ points in an 11-2 run.
Knicks center Mitchell Robinson, who blocked nine Magic shots last Monday, went to the bench with four fouls with 2:11 left in the second quarter. Forward Mario Hezonga sat out a second straight game with stomach flu or food poisoning, Coach David Fizdale said.
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