Orlando, FL—That’s all she wrote, as the Magic have officially completed an eight-game homestand with a nerve-wracking 104-103 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Orlando the last two weeks had a perfect opportunity late in the season with eight consecutive home games on their schedule to take full advantage of the challenge ahead of them. As the Magic are currently still battling multiple teams for playoff position in the East, they took care of business during their home stand finishing with a record of 5-3. Orlando suffered heartbreaking losses to the Kings, Warriors, and Clippers all late-game situations that they can get better, and learn from.
The Magic despite a win tonight did not play to their standard and will need to be better moving forward, especially against playoff-caliber opponents. Head Coach of the Magic Jamahl Mosley in the post-game presser was visibly upset and he opened up at the podium by stating,
“Portland, give them credit for how they battled and stayed in the game, but we have to be better. Very, very simple. We have to play a better style of basketball where we just don’t play with the game. Respect the game of basketball and play the right way from the beginning to end.”
Former 17-year NBA veteran and now third-year Head Coach of the Portland Trail Blazers Chauncey Billups was very fond of Jamahl Mosley and his success here in Orlando. Similar to Jamahl Mosley, Billups became a first-year Head Coach in 2021 and when he was asked about Mosley’s success with the Magic he stated,
“Mose, he’s done incredible man. I’m so happy and proud of him, that’s my man. But, he’s been able to do an awesome job, I mean he did a lot before he got here obviously. He did a lot of defense in Dallas, so he brought a defensive mindset here. He’s got an incredible team to work with, talent. Their size on their team really stands out, their length, they’ve done a really good job of building them and giving them a great roster to work with. So now he’s just implementing what he believes in—And that team is really on the up and coming, dangerous team for years to come.”
Despite Portland being towards the bottom of the Western Conference, they gave Orlando everything they had tonight. In that first half, the Trail Blazers did a good job of being aggressive and getting downhill, and the Magic had a difficult time adjusting in that first half of play. Portland forced seven first-half turnovers on Orlando, and the Magic led at halftime 55-48.
The Magic began to pull away in that third period of play before the Trail Blazers made a comeback in the fourth quarter. Wendell Carter Jr who has been struggling as of late on the offensive side of the ball, dominated that third quarter and stepped his game up. Wendell had multiple alley-oop throw-downs, he was playing physically down low while grabbing a lot of boards, and he had 14 points and seven rebounds in the third quarter alone. The Magic led the Trail Blazers 83-73 heading into the final period of play.
Portland opened up the fourth quarter on an 18-7 run before Jalen Suggs took over for this Orlando squad. After Portland had momentarily taken the lead Suggs knocked down a triple, and the ensuing possession had a tough and one layup that ignited the crowd. Orlando would continue to extend their lead with multiple baskets by Franz Wagner as they led 102-94 with 3:04 remaining in the game.
Portland would close the game on a 9-2 run and they had their chances towards the end to win the game. With 15.2 seconds left Paolo Bachero missed a 23-foot three-pointer jumper that could’ve made it a two-possession game. On the final possession of the game, Deandre Ayton missed a 12-foot jumper that nearly went in as the Magic closed out the Trail Blazers.
Despite a late comeback by the Trail Blazers, they couldn’t finish the job over a gritty Orlando team. Orlando’s starters all scored in double figures, Franz Wagner led all Magic scorers with 20 points this evening, and it was an all-around great effort by the entire team, top to bottom.
Jamahl Mosley has officially clinched the 100th win of his career as a Head Coach and when he was asked about it in the postgame he stated,
“I mean, our coaching staff has been fantastic. I think the work that they continue to put in on a daily basis with these guys to help them understand exactly what they’re capable of doing and how good we really can be, I think it says so much— And I think it’s so great to be with this group of guys that you continue to grow with, you continue to learn with, that you continue to get better with. And me being not happy about the standard tells you how much we care about what we expect from them and how great they can be when they play the right way and play together.”
Orlando has now improved to 44-31 on the season in a tight Eastern Conference playoff race, and they will now have to hit the road for the first time in over two weeks as they prepare to play the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday evening at the Smoothie King Center.