Warriors survive back-and-forth battle with Magic

Moses Moody capped a 17-point performance off the bench with a late 3-pointer, Andrew Wiggins had a team-high 25 points and the Golden State Warriors outlasted the Orlando Magic 104-99 on Monday night

Warriors survive back-and-forth battle with Magic

Moses Moody capped a 17-point performance off the bench with a late 3-pointer, Andrew Wiggins had a team-high 25 points and the Golden State Warriors outlasted the Orlando Magic 104-99 on Monday night in San Francisco.

Stephen Curry overcame a slow start to score 24 points for the Warriors, who won for the third time in their last four games.

Cole Anthony came off the bench to pace Orlando with 26 points.

The Warriors ranged from trailing by 11 points in the first half to leading by 15 early in the fourth quarter, but they trailed 92-90 with 4:27 to go before outscoring the visitors 14-7 the rest of the way.

Wiggins, Kevon Looney and Draymond Green had hoops in a six-point burst that gave Golden State the lead for good. And when Moody countered a Franz Wagner jumper with his 3-pointer for a 99-94 advantage with 1:07 remaining, the Warriors were able to hold on.

A 3-pointer by Anthony kept the Magic alive at 102-99 with 17 seconds remaining, but Curry hit a pair of clinching free throws four seconds later.

After scoring just 43 points in the first half, the Warriors appeared to put themselves in the driver’s seat with a 39-point third quarter to take an 82-67 lead. But the Magic chipped away, eventually drawing even at 90-all on a jumper by Anthony with 4:58 to go.

Curry missed his first six 3-point attempts and finished 2-for-12, but the league’s leader from the free throw line at 93.7 percent going into the game padded his point total by making all eight of his attempts.

The Warriors were able to outscore the Magic 36-24 from beyond the arc despite shooting just 30.8 percent from distance. Dennis Schroder did all of his scoring on three 3-pointers, while Moody went 3-for-5.

Looney grabbed 16 rebounds off the bench for Golden State to complement six assists and two points.

Wagner had 21 points and Paolo Banchero 18 for Orlando, which dropped its fourth in a row. Goga Bitadze contributed six points and 14 rebounds, while Wendell Carter Jr. amassed six points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

Banchero was 0-for-6 and Wagner 1-for-5 on 3-pointers. The Magic finished at 25.0 percent (8 of 32).