The Orlando Magic have had many impressive wins so far this season, with the latest of them coming Friday night in Minneapolis.

Paolo Banchero, named an Eastern Conference All-Star reserve Thursday, racked up 23 points and hit a pair of game-sealing free throws with 9.3 seconds remaining, as the Magic overcame a 17-point deficit to defeat the West-leading Minnesota Timberwolves 108-106 at the Target Center.

It was their second-largest comeback victory this season. The Magic rallied back from 18 down to beat the Nuggets in Denver on Jan. 5.

“I think that’s a big portion of this group, is being able to keep your poise the entire time, knowing that it is a game of runs,” Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley said. “They got their run early in the game. So our guys didn’t panic. We continued to fight, continued to play hard, realized what we needed to do better defensively, as well as offensively.”

Of the 27 road games the Magic now have played, 14 of them have been decided by five points or less and 10 by three points or less. Although it counted as a home game, the Magic lost by one to the Hawks in Mexico City on Nov. 9. So, if you include that contest, that makes it 15 times an Orlando game away from Kia Center has been decided by five points or less and 11 times by three points or less.

A big reason why the Magic have played in so many road games that have come down to the wire is because of their perseverance and composure. Even in times when they’ve fallen behind by double digits, like in Friday’s contest, their resilience has helped them battle back.

“The past two years, we were down a lot and learning how to play from behind and continue to come back,” said Minnesota native Jalen Suggs, who tallied 15 points, six rebounds and two steals with many family and friends in the crowd. “Now we are learning how to close them out. Some nights are better than others, but we continue learning and we can see the progress that we are making. We are having fun doing it and everybody is growing in every aspect.”

Also significant is this group’s identity, which lives on the defensive end of the floor. After giving up 38 points in the first quarter, the Magic held the T-Wolves to just 21 in the second period and 18 in the fourth.

Besides being down 17 early, Orlando also trailed by eight early in the fourth before going on a 15-2 run to seize control. In that span, Franz Wagner scored five of his 19 points, while Gary Harris, back after missing 14 straight games with a calf injury, scored his one basket of the night.

Wendell Carter Jr. registered his third double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Anthony Edwards, who exited the game with 4:20 remaining in the first half after stepping on Carter’s foot and injuring his knee before returning out of the halftime break, and Rudy Gobert each scored 22 points. Like he did against Victor Wembanyama on Wednesday in San Antonio, Jonathan Isaac made things awfully difficult on Karl-Anthony Towns when the two matched up.

The Magic have now won five straight in Minnesota.