Magic are Playoff Bound

Orlando, FL—With an opportunity to advance to the NBA Playoffs, the Magic defeated the Hawks 120-95 thrillingly in the Play-In tournament. 

Importance of Preparation

With a win over the Boston Celtics last week the Magic clinched the seventh seed in the East and won the Southeast Division in back-to-back seasons. After the Hawks took down the Sixers last week, both teams prepared for a competitive rivalry Play-In game matchup. 

Orlando’s stars Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero talked to reporters earlier this week about the magnitude of the game and how the team needs to approach this matchup.

“It’s going to be a really tough game,” Wagner said. “The team that is going to withstand those runs from the other team the best and kind of keep a cool head the whole game is going to come out on top.”

“You’ve just got to approach it like a championship game,” Banchero said. “You’ve got to be ready to go from the tip. I’m looking to give 110% effort and do whatever it takes to get the win.”

Magic coach Jamahl Mosley expressed a similar sentiment to reporters before tonight’s contest about what he wants to see from his group tonight.

“Playing a team five times, you understand exactly what you’re gonna see,” Mosley said. “So again, mini playoff series, for the most part, we’ve seen them, they’ve seen us just being able to go out and play our brand of basketball.

Orlando’s Dominant Win

The Magic did just that this evening as they were in control of this game from tipoff to the final buzzer. Orlando jumped out to an early lead in that first period of play scoring 32 points and limiting Atlanta to just 17 points. The Magic were aggressive, got downhill with force, and played extremely physical on both ends of the floor.

After leading by as much as 22 points in that first half of play Atlanta would end the second quarter on a 12-4 run and they trailed 61-47 heading into the halftime locker room.

Once again, the Hawks wouldn’t go down without a fight as they opened up the second half on a 10-2 run, and cut the deficit to as little as three points. From that point forward Orlando did a great job to bend, not break, and they led 79-73 heading into the final period of play.

The Kia Center was absolutely electric all evening long and the home crowd played a huge role in propelling the team to victory in that fourth quarter. The second-unit continued to dominate as they had all night long and the team outscored the Hawks 41-22 in the fourth quarter.

Box Score/Final Numbers

Cole Anthony led all Magic scorers with 26 points while chipping in five assists and connecting on four shots from behind the arch. Paolo Banchero finished with a near triple-double as he had 17 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. Wendell Carter had 19 points, and Anthony Black contributed 16 points off the bench. 

“His energy, his spark, his juice, what he provides for this team coming off that bench,” Mosley said of Cole’s performance. “He plays fearlessly and that’s how we need him to continue to play.”

Atlanta’s Trae Young, despite shooting an inefficient 8 of 21 from the floor and 1 of 5 from behind the arch, still managed to finish with 28 points and six assists. George Niang was the Hawk’s second-leading scorer tonight with 15 points off the bench.

Orlando vs Boston in the Playoffs

With a matchup in Boston beginning on Sunday afternoon Paolo Banchero told reporters postgame about his relationship with Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, and the opportunity that lies ahead with a matchup with the defending champs.

“I’ve known Jayson since I was going into college — But you know, obviously now we’re competing and I think, the best way for me to show my respect is to give him my best effort and go at him as much as I can.“

Banchero added: “We had an up and down season, so the fact that we’re able to clinch a seven-seed with this game and give ourselves a chance to go into Boston and make some noise, I’m just happy about that — Definitely looking forward to the challenge.”

Cole Anthony was just as excited for his group to get into the playoffs now in back-to-back seasons.

“It’s gonna be a heck of a series, man. I actually went to the championship game in Boston last year,” Anthony said. “I got to really see how that environment was firsthand and that is probably the craziest environment of a game I’ve seen — I’m just excited for this team and we’ve got a great opportunity ahead of us.” 

Orlando has officially advanced to the NBA Playoffs and will play the #2 seed in the East in the Boston Celtics in the first round. The Magic will be on the road in Boston for game one of the series beginning on Sunday, April 20.