Magic Win Streak Ends

Orlando, FL— After the Magic had strung together three wins in a row, this team appeared as if it had found a renewed sense of confidence and was ready to finish out the regular season on a high note. That unfortunately all came crashing down with a gut-wrenching 101-92 loss to the Dallas Mavericks yesterday evening. 

Slow Start

Both teams started slowly, scoring a combined 10 points in the first six minutes of the game, which translated to a low-scoring affair. Although Dallas did a good job of slowing Orlando down and not letting them dictate the pace of the game, the Magic still found themselves ahead going into the halftime locker room, up 50-43. 

“I think that you know, playing slow is going to create more chances to turn the ball over for us,” Banchero said on the team not falling into bad habits. “The faster we play the better because it just limits everybody’s decision time and just gives guys quicker reads.”

Dallas Third Quarter Run

Orlando’s third-quarter struggles continued to haunt this team once again as the Mavericks went on a 20-4 run in that third period to pull ahead and they never looked back. The Magic are now 5-21 since Christmas in games where they’ve been outscored in the third quarter. 

“Not really. I feel like it’s been a common issue,” Banchero said of the team’s third-quarter struggles. “It’s been biting us in the a**, but I can’t really pinpoint one thing.”

Jamahl Mosley added: “Turnovers. Turnovers were, they led to probably nine points quickly. Not taking care of the basketball, giving them easy baskets. And with this team, live ball turnovers is tough.”

Banchero Continues Hot Play

Paolo Banchero was sensational once again despite it coming in a losing effort. Banchero finished the night with 35 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists, and shot an efficient 13 of 21 (61.9%) from the floor. 

Banchero recorded his fifth straight game of 30+ points and became the first player since Tracy McGrady did it back in 2003 (Mar. 5-Apr. 1, 2003, 14 games). Banchero has now joined both Shaq and McGrady as the only players in franchise history to have at least 30+ points in five consecutive games. 

https://twitter.com/OrlandoMagic/status/1905420031413875092

“We’re going to continue to need him to do is keep making the right play,” Mosley said of how Banchero can continue to lift this team up. “Those are open looks and I think we’ve just gotta continue to step in with confidence and knock ’em down.”

Banchero added: “I think we could’ve been better about getting into our offense quicker. Figuring out what we’re trying to do. I feel like we weren’t really running as much tonight, we weren’t getting out and running, we weren’t pushing the pace. We was kinda letting them dictate the pace of the game and just felt like the communication was a little spotty out there.”

Despite the heroics of Banchero, the team has fallen to 2-4 on the season when he scores 35+ points and a lot of that has to do with the supporting cast. 

Supporting Cast

Outside of Franz Wagner and Anthony Black, Banchero didn’t get much help from his supporting cast last night. Wagner finished the night with 20 points and nine rebounds but shot 8 of 21 (38.0%) from the field. Black finished with 14 points while shooting 5 of 10 (50%) from the floor to lead the second unit. 

“I could go to 16% from the three,” Mosley said on what stood out from the loss excluding turnovers. “Those shots that we’re getting are good looks. Those long shots equal long rebounds and then they were taking some of those and right off on the break getting out in transition.”

Jonathan Isaac, who’s been in and out of the rotation the last few weeks, hasn’t registered double-digit minutes in a game since Mar. 13 in New Orleans. Isaac played just six minutes last night and Jamahl Mosley provided some context as to why Isaac hasn’t been seeing the floor as much.

“But I think it’s gonna continue to stay with match-ups on any given night. I think that’s gonna be very important as we come down the stretch,” Mosley said. “What we’ve talked about in this stretch as a playoff look and match-ups and timing of different rotations like they went full small ball and so the ability to have one big on the floor at a time is very important.”

Taking a deeper look at the numbers, despite how well Banchero has played over this stretch the team has still struggled including most of the role players. Banchero over the last five games is averaging 31.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists, on 53.3/34.4/79.5 splits. 

Orlando as a team over the last five games is 3-2, and here are their ranks:
OFF RTG: 114.6 (21st)
DEF RTG: 111.1 (8th)
AST/TO: 1.76 (21st)
EFG%: 52.7% (24th)
TS%: 56.4% (24th)
PACE: 95.8 (25th)

Orlando’s role players such as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Jonathan Isaac, Goga Bitadze, Gary Harris, Tristan da Silva, and Caleb Houstan combined for five points. It’s simply not good enough and it will continue to haunt this team as the postseason is approaching in the following weeks. 

The Magic will prepare to play host to the Sacramento Kings on Saturday evening at the Kia Center.