After three years of drought, the Magic are this time on track to return to the playoffs. After its victory without trembling against the Nets last night, Orlando can boast of having still not lost at home against a team with a negative record since the start of the season. Paolo Banchero's teammates have a perfect 13-0, against teams with less than 50% victories.
Two other franchises can boast of this same record: Boston and OKC, respectively 1st and 3rd in the NBA. For the Floridians, this flawless performance allowed them to stay in the right place and even to be able to still aim for the top 4, which would be an achievement after three years finished in 14th, 15th and 13th places in the Eastern Conference.
The principles put in place by Jamahl Mosley continue to bear fruit as we saw on Wednesday, with great defensive intensity and a collective in which everyone can express themselves.
“I liked our defensive energy, our ability to take them all over the place,” said the Magic coach after the meeting. “Then the way we shared the ball, it was fun to watch. Our way of circulating it, of sharing it, meant that the players took their shots with confidence. This is how we need to continue to play.”.
And soon the receptions of the Raptors and the Hornets…
Last year at the same stage of the season, the Magic had ten fewer wins. But the patience and confidence of managers and players in the work of coach Mosley ended up paying off in this 2023-2024 financial year.
“It is simply the consequence of the message that we have been reminded of from the beginning. The coach insisted from the start on our effort and the feeling of urgency. We started with that in the previous match against Indiana, but we ended up failing. We made sure to arrive with the desire to rediscover the joy of playing, to play hard, physical, and give ourselves rhythm. This is what we managed to do”for his part confided Jonathan Isaac, one of the most effective “role players” against the Nets.
The Magic will quickly have the opportunity to continue their good series at home against the “little ones” since after a trip to Canada on Friday evening, Paolo Banchero's teammates will host the Raptors and the Hornets.
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Paolo Banchero | 64 | 34.9 | 46.2 | 36.1 | 71.1 | 1.1 | 5.7 | 6.8 | 5.3 | 3.1 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 22.8 |
| Franz Wagner | 58 | 33.0 | 47.5 | 29.5 | 84.3 | 1.0 | 4.5 | 5.5 | 3.9 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 20.0 |
| Jalen Suggs | 59 | 26.7 | 45.9 | 39.5 | 75.7 | 0.7 | 2.6 | 3.3 | 2.6 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 12.3 |
| Wendell Carter, Jr. | 39 | 26.2 | 53.6 | 40.0 | 72.2 | 2.1 | 4.8 | 6.9 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 2.4 | 11.6 |
| Cole Anthony | 65 | 22.9 | 42.7 | 31.1 | 82.2 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 3.9 | 3.1 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 11.6 |
| Moe Wagner | 64 | 18.2 | 59.3 | 31.5 | 80.3 | 1.5 | 3.0 | 4.5 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 2.1 | 11.0 |
| Markelle Fultz | 28 | 22.2 | 48.6 | 10.0 | 63.0 | 1.4 | 2.1 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 8.3 |
| Gary Harris | 42 | 23.2 | 46.1 | 38.2 | 75.6 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 7.3 |
| Jonathan Isaac | 45 | 15.0 | 49.8 | 35.4 | 71.6 | 1.3 | 3.0 | 4.3 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 6.4 |
| Goga Bitadze | 53 | 17.1 | 60.8 | 16.7 | 65.8 | 1.9 | 3.2 | 5.1 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 1.9 | 5.5 |
| Anthony Black | 60 | 18.2 | 45.9 | 39.1 | 64.0 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 4.9 |
| Joe Ingles | 52 | 17.3 | 42.6 | 42.3 | 82.6 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 2.9 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 4.5 |
| Caleb Houstan | 49 | 14.3 | 39.1 | 37.7 | 79.2 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 4.4 |
| Trevelin Queen | 13 | 12.5 | 36.8 | 17.6 | 75.0 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 3.1 |
| Chuma Okeke | 39 | 10.2 | 37.5 | 30.3 | 40.0 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 2.6 |
| Kevin Harris | 2 | 3.0 | 66.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 2.0 |
| Jett Howard | 13 | 3.8 | 36.4 | 29.4 | 50.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 1.8 |
| Admiral Schofield | 17 | 3.4 | 35.3 | 27.3 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.9 |
