Banchero’s Clutch Play

Orlando, FL— After a rough six-game Western Conference road trip where the Magic came away with only one win, they returned home this evening and got a huge bounce-back win over the San Antonio Spurs 112-111. 

The motto for the Magic tonight should be ‘It’s not about how you start, but it’s how you finish’. Orlando outscored San Antonio 31-23 in the final period of play and Paolo Banchero who had struggled for most of the night showed up when it mattered the most. 

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Banchero scored nine points in the fourth quarter and nailed the turnaround game-winner over Harrison Barnes. 

“I told him ‘I have the utmost confidence in that young man’. He’s a star for a reason,” Jamahl Mosley said of Banchero. “He may have been struggling early on, but that’s not gonna deter who he is and what he’s about.”

Franz Wagner Continues Hot Streak

It feels like a recurring theme but Franz Wagner once again was nothing short of sensational tonight scoring a game-high 33 points while chipping in 12 rebounds, five assists, and shooting 14 of 28 (50%) from the floor.

“Winner. Ultimate winner, ultimate competitor, ultimate winner,” Mosley said of Wagner. “He has probably one of the highest basketball IQs of anyone I’ve ever been around.”

Franz Wagner has now become the fifth player in Magic history to have multiple games with 30+ points, 10+ rebounds, and 5+ assists in the same season. The others are Tracy McGrady, Shaquille O’Neal, Nikola Vučević and Steve Francis.

“He was relentless. He kept attacking,” Mitch Johnson on Wagner. “A few times, we were really emphasizing for Victor (Wembanyama) to meet him at the rim. But he did a good job. He did a really good job.”

Jalen Suggs Injury Update

Orlando’s defense which has been their backbone all season long has taken a big hit without Jalen Suggs who is the ‘head of the snake’ on that side of the ball. The Magic’s defense, to their standard, struggled at times once again tonight.

Jalen Suggs (quad) was ruled out tonight before tipoff, as he’s now missed his seventh game in a row, and he’s been in and out of the lineup for the last several weeks. Jamahl Mosley spoke to the media before the game and discussed if Suggs needs to play before the All-Star break.

“It’s very important. But I also gotta understand what’s going on with his body and how he responds to the treatment,” Mosley said. “You know, in a perfect world, you want him out there. But ultimately you have to respect what he’s going through and how the medical [team] sees it fit for him to be able to play.”

First Half of Play

San Antonio’s forward Harrison Barnes got off to a blazing start to begin this game as he scored 18 first-quarter points, and connected on 6 of 7 (85.7%) of his shots from distance. The Spurs did a great job of shooting the ball and they finished the first half shooting 22 of 42 (52.4%) from the floor and 10 of 20 (50%) from distance. 

“They’re great players,” Barnes on Banchero and Wagner. “I had a chance to work out with Franz during his pre-draft process out in LA. He is a great kid, extremely hard worker, love his game. Paolo has obviously blossomed into one of the better players in our league…an All-Star and the future is bright.”

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Despite the Spurs having the best shot blocker in the game, Orlando didn’t allow that to deter them from getting inside as they scored 30 of their 57 first-half points in the paint. San Antonito would go into the halftime locker room leading 60-57. 

Magic Second Half Comeback

Even with the Spurs leading by as much as 13 points in the second half, the Magic never gave up. After Harrison Barnes and Devin Vassell nailed two back-to-back triples to give the Spurs a 108-102 lead with 3:55 left in the game, Orlando found a way to scratch and claw their way back into the game.

Anthony Black who scored 10 points in the fourth quarter nailed two huge triples to keep the Magic afloat. Banchero would take care of the rest nailing two clutch jumpers down the stretch, including the game-winner.

“I will say this for everyone. I will say this to our locker room, I will say it to Anthony Black, I will say it to our team. This is how we understand he can play,” Mosley said of Black. “That’s the Anthony Black that we know who he can be night-in and night-out.”

Newly acquired Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox has been a huge addition to the team, and tonight was just his third game suiting up for them. Anthony Black was huge in shutting him down the stretch, and he did a great job of limiting Fox to just nine points, holding him to shoot just 3 of 11 (27.2%) from the floor tonight.

You cannot talk about this game without talking about the impact of Jonathan Isaac who had 14 points off the bench. As always, Isaac’s impact won’t always show up in the box score but it was an absolute masterclass with his energy, his effort, and defensive versatility. 

Orlando did a good job tonight finding a way to win this game and they will need to take this momentum and continue to build upon it as they play host to the Atlanta Hawks on Monday evening.