Green comes off the bench to lift Magic

Green certainly appeared in his element Saturday night as he knocked down several big shots as part of a second-unit that helped the Magic overcome a 12-point third-quarter deficit to come away with an 88-86 win over the Washington Wizards at home.

Green led his team with 18 points off the bench as the Magic improved to .500 with its third straight win after starting the season 0-3.

“It doesn’t matter if I come off the bench, start, play five minutes, play 30 minutes.

Green, who is playing behind Aaron Gordon at the small forward spot, led the second unit which provided energy in both the first and second halves to pull the Magic out of double-digit deficits.

The Wizards (1-4), who were playing without point guard John Wall, struggled to come up with shots down the stretch even though Markieff Morris came close to knocking down a game-winning 3-point shot at the buzzer.

Wizards: As expected, Wall did not play in Saturday night’s game against Magic.

Magic: Orlando had lost 12 straight games to the Washington Wizards entering Saturday night’s game.

The Magic entered Saturday night averaging 13.2 offensive rebounds per game, which ranks second in the NBA.