After two defeats in Los Angeles, against the Lakers then the Clippers, Paolo Banchero and the Magic needed to win again. The trip to Utah was perfect for this, even if the Florida club has historically struggled in Salt Lake City. Orlando thus had overall control over the match, almost until the end.
The last quarter was well negotiated, but a few small errors and two winning shots from Lauri Markkanen gave Jazz a point in advance. Twenty seconds left. Ball in the hands of Paolo Banchero.
“I just wanted to be aggressive, take advantage of the mismatches,” explains the rookie of the year 2022 at the Magic website. “The coach drew me an action where I was in the center of the field. I knew they expected me to go right, so I wanted to give that indication before coming back to the left. »
Lessons that are starting to come home
The interior had an excellent match with 30 points at 9/13 shooting. He wanted to attack the circle and perfectly read the situations and the Jazz defense to dominate. He notably scored 10 points in the last quarter.
A solid performance, which adds to that of his teammates.
The latter negotiated well the last seconds of the game, where they had failed against D’Angelo Russell and the Lakers by missing their last five shots. Floridians have learned their lesson.
“Last season helped a lot because we were in this situation many times,” analyzes Franz Wagner. “And in these situations, last season, we were a little lost. Then, Paolo did a superb action to allow us to regain control. The atmosphere during the regrouping after Markkanen’s last shot was good. We still had 19 seconds, so there was plenty of time left. »
| Paolo Banchero | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2022-23 | ENT | 72 | 34 | 42.7 | 29.8 | 73.8 | 1.2 | 5.7 | 6.9 | 3.7 | 2.2 | 0.8 | 2.8 | 0.5 | 20.0 |
| 2023-24 | ENT | 4 | 31 | 37.8 | 22.2 | 53.8 | 0.8 | 4.5 | 5.3 | 4.5 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 0.0 | 12.5 |
| Total | 76 | 34 | 42.5 | 29.6 | 72.9 | 1.1 | 5.7 | 6.8 | 3.8 | 2.2 | 0.9 | 2.8 | 0.5 | 19.6 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
