IDENTITY: Orlando Magic show GRIT as Franz Wagner and Desmond Bane deliver pivotal WIN over Celtics

IDENTITY: Orlando Magic show GRIT as Franz Wagner and Desmond Bane deliver pivotal WIN over Celtics

The Orlando Magic have not looked like themselves all season long. That changed Friday night against the Boston Celtics. Today on Locked On Magic, you are Locked On Magic. Your daily Orlando Magic podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. And you are indeed locked on Magic. Today is November 8th, 2025. My name is Philip Rossik. I’m the senior writer over at Orlando Magicaily.com. Credentials member with the Orlando Magic media since the 2012 season. On today’s episode of Locked On Magic, the Orlando Magic show their medal. something that had been shaky throughout the year. We’ll get to what the Magic proved and can build on from their game against the Boston Celtics, plus why the recipe for success was on display once again. We’ll talk about the good signs we saw Friday night and how the Magic get past the LOLs. We’ll get to that coming up here in just a moment. But first, we want to thank you again for making lockdown magic part of your day every day. No matter when you listen to us, whether it’s first thing in the morning, whether it’s right we upload, we truly appreciate you making lockdown magic part of your day every day. You can make lockdown magic a bigger part of your day by being one of our Orlando Magic dailies. That means you’re listening to us five days a week. That means you’re listening to us on the weekends. That means we’re part of your doorbell rotation. That means we are your first listen of the day. Truly appreciate everyone who makes Lockdown Magic part of your day every day. We’re part of the Lockdown podcast network. Now the number one sports podcast network. It’s your team every day. Today’s episode of Lockdown Magic is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Head to fanduel.com to get started. We know what the Orlando Magic are supposed to look like. We’ve seen this team for two years make the playoffs and and have this core central identity. They have been a tough-minded defensive team. They’ve been a team that can’t freaking score. And yet they’ve been not only competitive, they’ve been winning. They’ve been one of the best teams, not maybe not one of the best teams in the league, but they’ve been one of the teams that everybody around the league fears to face. I was, you know, I’m we’re friend I am friendly with a lot of Boston Celtics media. A lot of their previews asked, are the Celtics ready for the Magic’s physicality? Are they ready for the toughness that they experienced during the playoffs? Of course, through the first eight games of the season, that hasn’t been the Magic’s MO. That hasn’t been who the Magic have been. In fact, of all the distressing things that have happened to this Orlando Magic team over the last three weeks, it’s not the offense sputtering. The offense is better. It’s not even necessarily that the defense has been inconsistent. We’ve seen good moments. We’ve seen a lot of really bad moments. It was I I hate to use mental toughness because that implies a lot of things that I don’t necessarily think are true, but it was this lack of grit and determination. It was this lack of we don’t care if we’re scoring, you’re not going to score either. It was when one mistake happened, they compounded into multiple mistakes and then went on for long, long stretches. What concerned me about the first eight games was not any of the statistics or any of the other things that that I could cite. It was when this team got punched, they would stagger backward and by the time they picked themselves back up and by the time they got back in the game, it was over. They didn’t have enough time. They couldn’t get themselves back. They couldn’t reel themselves back in. What concerned me about this team was the identity that we thought they had and thought would be cemented and thought we didn’t have to worry about that identity didn’t stick. That identity didn’t remain. And so that was the biggest challenge in my opinion facing the magic during this home stand. And and the biggest challenge facing the Magic is we have to understand what this team’s identity is. If you listen to the show for a long time, I’ll tell you the regular season is about what you can do when nothing else works because you’re going to have bad days. There’s a averages are not a straight line. Averages means you go up, you go down, and and water finds its level. So, what can you do when the shots don’t fall? What do you still do when the shots do fall? What do you do when a team puts a big run on you? Do you stay composed? Do you stay in the game? Do you weather that storm? And that’s what the Magic haven’t been doing against the Hawks on Tuesday was a great example of this. The Hawks came out guns blazing. They made a ton of shots and the Magic got frustrated against the Pistons in the second half. Magic had this great first half. They played determined. Detroit makes makes a move to end the quarter and end the half with the lead and the Magic just wilts in the second half. If the Magic are going to be the team that we think they could be and they still can’t, like all those preseason expectations aren’t gone, they have to show their toughness first. All the other pieces of the puzzle come together once this identity is set. And so that is what Friday’s game means. That’s why Friday’s game against the Celtics was so important. That’s what the Magic showed us and that’s what the Magic proved. The Orlando Magic led by 16 with a brilliant first quarter. We’ll get to why the offense worked so well in our second segment. But slowly Boston chipped away at that lead. Slowly the Magic fell back into bad habits, the turnovers, the fouling, and let Boston back into the game. Then in the fourth quarter, the Celtics finally took the lead for the first time since first quarter, taking a one-point lead on a couple Any Simon shots. The Magic could not pull away. They could not put the Celtics at arms distance. They had a game. And then the Magic turned it around. Then the Magic found what they needed. A 9-0 run gave them some breathing room and then they put the hammer down to score a 123 to 110 victory which could be vitally important in the NBA Cup race. Credit to France Vagner for that late block. This is not something the Magic did successfully on the road. This is not something the Magic have done frankly successfully except for the game against Miami. I get the win over the Heat. And this is what good teams do. This is what a team like the Magic is built on. Their ability to answer back. Yes, they gave up 30 points in the fourth quarter. 39 to 30. But the Magic won all of their key metrics, all of their key stats in that fourth quarter. 39 points in the fourth quarter. They made four threes. They were four of seven from three. They had the same free flowing offense that we’ll talk about here in a minute. Fran Vagner scored nine of his 27 in the quarter. Desmond Bane had eight of his 22. Seven players finished at double figures for the game. But more importantly, the Magic had just one turnover in the quarter and kept the Celtics off the line. Boston had only five free throws. Most of them were at the end. They tacked downhill and got 16 of their 44 points in the paint in the fourth quarter. They got 14 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter. They hit their open threes. And so while there are all still these frustrations, and I’m not going to sit here and tell you that the magic are suddenly solved, the lull in that second quarter, the fouling, they had eight of their 15 turnovers in the second quarter that led Boston back in the game needed a tighter game. The kind of sluggish play that they had in the third quarter. There is still a long way to go. Do not get me wrong. and those turnovers, those fouling mistakes. That is something the Magics still have to correct. But this team is clearly good enough to learn while winning. They can clearly learn these lessons and improve on these things and still win games because all it takes is a little moment. All it takes is that one big run, that surge of confidence where their defense is feeding their offense, where the ball is moving. They’re not getting stuck as much and they have the toughness to say things aren’t going right, but we’re going to push through nonetheless. That is Orlando Magic basketball. And if the Magic want to make the most of this season, if they want to be the team that everybody around the league still imagines they can be, and they can. It’s still super super early. They’re back to four and five now. You beat Boston, you’re five and five. Who knows? It’s still super early. It’s not like you’re on you’re completely underwater. You’re you’re you’re you’re struggling to swim a little bit, but you’re not underwater. If the Magic play every game and face every adversity in every moment the way that they faced that fourth quarter, they’re going to get themselves back on track. And so, you take the win, you take the lessons, and you move forward because you get to do it again on Sunday. A big piece of this puzzle is obviously the Magic making shots, which they made a lot of in the game on Friday. Why the Magic showed their recipe and their formula and hopefully something that sticks. We’ll get to that coming up here in just a moment. But first, today’s episode of Lockdown Magic is brought to my friends over at Door Dash. The NBA season is heating up and Door Dash has found the perfect way to keep fans in their bag all season long. Whether you’re watching for the highlights, your fantasy team, or just your favorite player, Door Dash makes every game night even better. Door Dash is the official ondemand delivery platform of the NBA. And they are celebrating with something called the Bagdrop. Every time an NBA player scores 50 points in the game, Door Dash drops 50% off your order with Dash Pass the next day. and you’re automatically entered for a chance to win the ultimate fan bag. We’re talking player inspired drip, exclusive gear, and stuff you’ll actually want. Door Dash is not just food. You can get everything from snacks and drinks to headphones, ice, even socks, all delivered. So, next time someone goes off for 50, use promo code NBA50 the next day to get 50% off on Door Dash with Dashpass, plus your shot at the backdrop. Dashpass members only. 50% off up to 10 $10 the day after a 50 point gain with promo code. Terms apply. No purchase necessary. Ends April 13th. Open to US residents 21 or older. Visit door-inyourbag.com for full details. Door Dash in your bag all season long. Everyone is concerned about the Orlando Magic offense and and and you’re right to be like, look, it’s it h it’s been clunky. It’s been it’s been a slog at times. Um, and the the way the Mags are trying to play offense, it hasn’t clicked fully. And maybe it wouldn’t be such a problem if the defense weren’t playing better. Like I would argue the biggest issue is the defense. I would argue all the Magic’s problems go back to their defense. And again, like yes, the Magic made a lot of shots. They played from ahead, which helps tremendously. Um, but this game was about the Magic’s defense, getting stops, finally slowing down Jaylen Brown, limiting three-point attempts, forcing Boston to do things they’re not comfortable with, getting turnovers, 14 turnovers for 22 points. The Magic solve the Magic’s defense, and you solve a lot of other problems. I’m not saying you solve every problem. I’m not saying I’m not saying that the Magic don’t need some offensive fixes, but you solve a lot of problems by solving the defense. I’ll start there. Um, but the Magic needed to show what their offense could be. And when the offense flows like this, like yes, confidence is everywhere. You’re you’re able to set your defense up. The Magic had one of their best offensive games of the year. Like that. No getting around it. And against a quality defense, Boston’s about league average of defense. To shoot 50% make 17 of 36 threes. A meaning you get 36 threes and you make about half of them to get to the line 31 times. 24 for 31. Yes, the Magic need to make more free throws. Paulo missed two, Wendell missed one, Dez missed one, um Goa missed two, Anthony Black missed one. So just little things that add up. Got to make your free throws. But to have 38 points in the first quarter, go up by 16, like really dominate that game with your fast break, with your transition, with your speed, with your pace. This is sort of what the Magic envision. This is sort of who the Magic want to be. They are they are trying to be this fast-paced up and down team. They are trying to get the ball moving quickly. And what stood out about when the Magic were successful is a their defense got stops. They got over the top. They got over the midcourt line quickly. Even if they didn’t get a fast break point, they got over the mid-court line quickly. What stood out about the Magic is how much they how much they move the ball, how little the ball stuck. And and look, I’ll get to get to some issues here in a minute, but that’s still the key. Keeping the ball moving, keeping it go, keeping it around the horn. That’s what’s going to matter for the Magic. Orlando scored, according to our friends at Synergy, 1.71 points per possession on 17 transition plays. That is highly efficient. Highly efficient and a really really stellar stellar uh stellar play there according to our friends at Synergy. Um the Magic just moved the ball so effectively. Paulo was didn’t score or shoot very much. It was very strange actually. But at least in the first half, his fingerprints were all over the game, moving the ball, taking on double teams, taking on pressure, knowing where his teammates were. The Magic said during the last few days that they worked on their spacing, and just knowing where to be, and and and honestly, like I think so much of the Magic’s problems are still just trusting where players are going to be and knowing where to move to help each other. There’s just a lot of this where the Magic kind of stands still while players drive into the paint and then they get stuck and they don’t know where to be. This offense needs relocation. Players need to relocate to be in areas where their teammates can find them. And you watch tape and you’re like, “Oh, move to this empty corner.” Like, be available. You’re going to be fine. The Magic The Magic got a lot of plays off cuts. They scored a lot off cuts. I’m going try and find the stats here. They had 1.11 points per possession on cuts. Seven of their nine cut cut cut possessions came in the first half. So there’s a lot of movement. There’s a lot of movement that the Magic have and that the Magic have to have to be successful. They can’t just be standing still. And that is largely what was successful about this game. Orlando finished with 28 assists on 41 field goals. It’s pretty good number. They’re one they had a 1224.2 2, excuse me, offensive rating in this game. That is the third game where they’ve scored more than 120 points per possession, points per 100 possessions. They only did that 16 times last year. So, they’ve got three already through through eight g through nine games. The Magic offense still has this tremendous potential. Right now though, it’s coming in bursts. Right now, we see it for like five, six minute stretches and it’s average or it’s kind of baseline heartbeat. it’s resting a heartbeat. Is is it pretty? And that’s the part that the magic have to rise is is when it clicks, it’s all clicking. And like look, we’ll go through the we’ll go through the individual stats in a bit, but when it’s clicking, it’s all clicking. Like they click on all cylinders. Like I don’t know how you watch this game like the Washington Charlotte or Washington Charlotte but like even the Miami game even like the good moments from Atlanta. I don’t know how you can watch these games and not be like oh I see what they’re trying to do. I see why this is going to benefit this team and why this team can take a pretty sizable leap. they just aren’t able to execute it all the time. You can just tell there’s like a a thought process that hasn’t clicked in yet, like an instinct that hasn’t clicked in yet. That’s why I say like I’m not so worried yet because I think a lot of this is just cohesion and learning to play together. And so I I will continue to urge like give them time. Like Friday was a huge step forward and they really only played good offense for two quarters. So yeah, like when they play the Knicks on Wednesday, yeah, you got to execute a little at a little higher level. I’m not like, look, they’re not executing at the level we need them to execute at. The laws in this game were really bad. And again, just all the same habits, all the same things that take this team out of rhythm. the turnovers, the trying to do too much with passes, um the fouling, uh sending Boston to the free throw line, a team that does not go to the free throw line, um that’s giving away points, um the over dribbling, like that that has to stop. It’s it’s one try to move, keep it moving on to the next read. You want more time so that you can go through different reads and and do different actions. This is the recipe. Like what the Magic did in the first and fourth quarters, that’s what this team is trying to be. And like again, we see it in these like four or five minute spurts. And it’s getting the confidence to to to to execute and continue on that. And look, making shots helps. Like I I would argue one of the problems in the game against Atlanta on Tuesday was that the Magic went one for 10 from three to start the game. And this team does have mental scarring even if they won’t admit it. We all said it to ourselves probably like ah here we go again another night and miss missed open shots. Magic didn’t lose three-point shooting by a lot. But that confidence that change affects everything. So when the Magic come out in the first quarter and hit seven of 12 threes, that changes everything. When they make four of seven in the fourth quarter, the juice is there. Like it’s it’s it’s it’s just a different vibe. And so the question is, are the Magic going to make shots like this? Like look, Sunday is going to be a completely different game. Sunday is going to be a completely different challenge. Um and that’s That’s going to be what the Magic have to fight through. Um, but they’re going to have to find a way to stay confident whether their shots are going in or not and keep the ball moving and trust this thing. Games like this is how you start to build trust. Games like this is how you start to build belief. It you want to say process over results. Results help. And this is how the Magic want to play. free flowing, ball moving, decisive, um, making the simple plays, playing off each other, using their defense to power the offense. This is what the Magic are supposed to look like. And they went from a close game to a blowout very, very quickly. A game where they could play around with the NBA Cup point differential and and and made that a thing. This was a strong effort by the Magic and one hopefully they can continue building on. It’s it there might still be two steps forward, one step back, but this was a this was a good day for the Magic. Let’s go through the indiv individual box score. We’ll talk about individual players coming up here in just a moment. But first, today’s episode of Lockdown Magic is brought to you by our friends over at FanDuel. The NBA is back and there is no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of the game or want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from Google Score Next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team is making that late push. I’m recording here on a Saturday morning. Apologies, I was late coming home from that ridiculously late um late game against uh between UCF and Houston. So, if you’re looking to get in on the action, Miami favored by 18 and a half in a revenge game at home against Syracuse this afternoon. The Florida State Seminals are one and a half point underdogs at Clemson. Your Florida Gator trying to get back in the win column three and a half point favorites over Kentucky. in the NBA. The Orlando Magic, believe it or not, even with all the struggles, the NBA have the Magic have been favored in every game they have played this season. So, if you’re looking for looking to get in on the action for Sunday’s game, they don’t have it posted yet, but the Atlanta Magic likely to be favored for a 10th straight game. I don’t know have the stats, but I’m pretty sure that would be pretty pretty close to a record since Dwight since Dwight uh left the team. Right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So, head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, official sports betting partner of the NBA. Today’s episode of Lockdown Magic is also brought to you by our friends over at Prize Pick. This uh you and I make decisions every day, but on Prize Picks, being right can get you paid. Don’t miss any of the excitement of this sports season. Whether you’re following the NFL, NBA, or both, there is no better time to jump in on the action. If you haven’t tried it yet, Prize Pix is the simplest way to play. 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Download the Prize Pix app today and use code lock.NBA to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. That’s code lock.NBA for $50 in lineups after your first $5 lineup. Prize picks. It’s good to be right. Let’s run through the box scores. Zero Lando Magic defeat the Boston Celtics 123 to 110. Um, let’s start. I want to start here. Magic offense 124 offensive rating. You’ll take that every night. Like if the MA like this is I won’t say this is the peak. I think there’s a 130 night coming um later in the season when they’re a little more settled in offensively. Um everyone has good nights offensively. It’s the NBA. There’s 82 of these things. Like I said, an average is not a straight line. It it’s the middle of a wave of up and down. So the Magic have had some really good offensive games and their ups are consistently higher than they were last year. So, I I I want to repeat this. Whatever criticism you have of the offense, and there are plenty, and they’re deserving criticisms, this offense is still better than it was last year. The difference is the defense. And I want to give the defense that’s props. There were some shaky moments. And again, turnovers put them in a bad spot. The fouling put them in a bad spot. Jaylen Brown had 32 points and could not miss a shot in the third quarter. They were hitting hitting those contested mid-range shots. The exact shots the Magic want to give up to this Boston team. If Jaylen Brown’s hitting mid-r shooting mid-range shots, that means Boston’s not shooting threes. That means they’re not getting in the lane. If Jaylen Brown wants to make mid-range shots, go for it. And the Magic had to survive that wave. But he had 32 points in the game. He scored 16 of them in the third quarter, eight for 10, 0 for one from three, no free throws. That’s good defense. But in the fourth quarter, only two points on one for five shooting. A really good job by the Magic defensively on him. Again, they they used a lot of the same strategies they used in the playoffs, straight switching on the perimeter. They didn’t mind Wendell Carter guarding Jaylen Brown. They didn’t mind Goabat guarding Jaylen Brown. Um they were again keep on keep them on the perimeter. Keep them shooting mid-range jumpers. Don’t allow threes. The Magic finished this game with an 111.2 defensive rating. So Boston’s averaging about 112 points per 100 possession. But the way the NBA’s gone this year, 111.2 is pretty good. Um, it’s not our standard. It’s not what we expect from this Magic team. The Magic are about 112 defense, 112, 113 defensive rating overall. Um, and again, like I I mentioned this before, stats are not sticky yet. Um, Orlando B was what 14th in the league in defensive rating. After after Friday’s game, Orlando climbed up to Orlando’s still 15th. So, one Orlando was giving up 114. Um, so 111 is pretty good. A 111.2 to defensive rating would be seventh in the league right now. We want to see that number get more consistently under 110. But again, like they did the job defensively, especially in the fourth quarter. Fourth quarter def fourth quarter defense was pretty solid. I know they gave up 30 points. I’m going to check their defensive rating. They had a 125, but Orlando scored 156. So, when your offense is really good, you your defense can slip a little bit. There’s still things to clean up defensively, but I want to make sure I give the defense their props. They forced 14 turnovers for 22 points against a really good team at preventing turnovers. Um they only give up 16 free throw attempts which is good for this team. 11 for 16 from the line for Boston. Probably still fouled a little too much. Um second quarter they gave up five free throw attempts. Third quarter they gave up four. So maybe not as pronounced of a problem as I thought it was, but it always feels like the Magic do something that disrupts their rhythm a little bit and fouling is one of them. Turnovers are one of them. Um there’s still things to clean up. I’m not going to tell you that every problem is solved by this win. It’s just good to have that winning feeling and and say, “Okay, we did X, Y, and Z. If we keep doing that, you know, we could survive some of our our our mistakes and and our foibless.” And again, like I I’ll repeat this a million times. I think the Magic will improve all of these issues, but these issues are not going away. Turnovers are going to be a constant battle all year. Fouling is going to be a constant battle all year. But credit to the Magic, they played an exceptional offensive game. Fran Vagner, 27 points, nine for 18 shooting, two for seven from three. Again, I don’t mind him shooting a ton of threes. I’d like to see that number down. Um I certainly would like uh Desmond Payne to shoot more threes than Fran Vagner, but six rebounds, six assists. Um I thought Fron Fron Fron gets this offense in a way that I think a lot of the other players don’t because he’s just such a good cutter. He’s not your traditional star player. And yes, he needs to get the ball in his hands more. Him getting a a team high 18 field goal attempts. That is a good thing. We need to see more of that. We need to see him with the ball in his hands more, orchestrating stuff, the ball swinging to him just they need to get him more shots. Um but he does such a good job finding ways to be involved whether it’s in transition where he’s so good. Um cutting, just give him some open space, he will find a way to fill it. And if you could get him the ball, you could get him the ball. You know, the Magic’s biggest problem is still passing. Um, they’re not a super efficient passing team, but to see Fran have six assists, Paulo have four assists, Desmond Bane have seven assists, Anthony Black at four assists, 28 assists total for this Magic team. Jaylen Suggs had five assists. I want to leave him out. A lot of really good stuff from this Magic team overall. And again, when the ball’s moving, when it’s moving quickly and decisively, when they’re making the simple passes, they got the players to really be dangerous. Now again, like the Magic shot 50% in this game, 17 for 36 from three. They made their shots and and they made shots that they haven’t been making all year. So the question is, can they sustain this energy when the shots aren’t falling? That’s that’s the ultimate test. And maybe we’ll see that Sunday. Maybe we’ll see it Monday against Portland on a backto-back against a really good defensive team in Portland. But this is the challenge or the magic. They made their shots. They felt that energy and they got it going. Desmond Bane, one of the big heroes of the game. 22 points, eight for 15 shooting, two for five from three, so three-pointer, still not quite there. Four for five from the foul line, six rebounds, seven assists. I loved how he filled up the stat sheet. He looked more focused and determined on defense. Still some mistakes, but overall better. Um, the Magic, I think, went out of their way to draw plays up for him. Um, first play of the game was a uh was him coming off of a pin down, curling to the top of the key. They were trying to get him that three and Boston did a good job top blocking it. They doubled him. So he went up for a shot motion and then dipped it to Wendell Carter at the elbow. Carter missed a shot. But that’s exactly why you have Desmond Bane. Desmond May. Also, one of his threes was a humongous shot. Uh fourth quarter comes around a Wendell Carter screen, sets his feet because the defense goes under and just hoists a three. That’s why you got Desmond B. The constant threat of his three-point shooting. I know he’s not shooting enough right now. I agree with that. They need to get him more threes. They need to run plays specifically to get him threes like that one. Um, but Desmond Mine isn’t out there to just jack up threes. He’s getting a lot of attention. He is using that attention really well. Highest this game should not be rare for him. He took what the defense gave him and his all the rest of the offense kind of clicks into place. I think that’s when we’ll start to see Dez get more three-pointers. And again, it’s it’s about trust. It’s about knowing where he’s going to be. It’s him knowing where he needs to be. It It’s still growing. It’s still developing. So again, positive steps. We’re going to take positive steps where we can get them a really solid game from Desmond Bane. I’m going to give a shout out to Paulo Beno. This was not a typical Paulo Ben Carro game. 15 points, four for 10 shooting, one for three from three, six for eight from the foul line, nine rebounds, four assists. He did have two turnovers. Um but for all those analytics crowds, plus 25. The Magic are doing the Magic did a lot in this game to marry Paulo’s minutes to Desmond Bay and Paulo and Dez are building a really nice chemistry on in the pick and roll. So, we’ve been seeing it. We’ve been begging the Magic to run more of it. It’s getting there. It’s developing. What I loved about Paulo when the Magic were really good in this game, it was because Paulo was just soaking up all the attention. It was because Paulo was just eating up every piece of attention that he could get. And I’m going to look this up, so I’m going to stall a little bit while I look this up. Paulo may not have gotten the assist, but it sure felt like he was impacting everything, impacting everything that was happening on the floor. So, in last night’s game, I’m trying to see if Palo had any secondary assists. It does not look like he did. um which surprises me. Um in last night’s game, Paulo was was getting into spots, getting into the paint and kicking out to players and just using the attention that he brings to benefit everyone else. And again, it doesn’t show up in the assist total, but I I really like this game from Paulo. Now, when the Magic were bad, it’s because of a lot of things Paulo likes to do that that we have to kind of break and and and temper. I don’t think you’re going to completely break him on that, but but temper. a lot of the over dribbling, the sometimes getting caught in traps, not knowing where his help is, where his outlet is, players not reacting to where it is. Um, Paulo’s still a little slow to recognize where double teams are coming from, but for the most part doing really good things and and the more Paulo and Dez play together, I think the more potent that that combo is going to be. A really solid game from Paulo Beno. Again, didn’t score a lot. Um, I know that’s what everyone wants to see. I think there’s a there I certainly think there’s a big game coming when Shock Bafy comes out Sunday and plays plays a lot more aggressively offensively and looks for a shot a little bit. That’s just kind of human nature after not taking a lot of shots. Um, that I thought a really solid game for him there. Um, let’s talk Jaylen Suggs. Four for six from three, five for eight overall, 14 points, five assisted to have five fouls. Jaylen Suggs still playing a little bit too far over his skis. Um, honestly, like I I kind of like to see him see I know the team’s slow to expand his minutes. It feels like Jaylen Suggs is taking the the shortened minutes as permission to just go crazy and and not always play under control. Jaylen Suggs is a great example and frankly he’s a good bellweather for how the Magic are playing because if he’s out of control, the Magic can be out of control. He’s the point guard for, you know, I know he doesn’t bring the ball up all the time, but he’s the point guard and so it’s on him. It’s on him to deliver and be some poise and be some calm. And look, Jaylen Suggs is always like composed, chaotic energy. It’s it it just feels like he’s just got to rein it back a little bit, dial it back a little bit to to make sure that they maximize those minutes. But look, we said this story throughout the offseason. Jaylen Suggs took a major leap as a shooter last year playing off the ball. That shooting leap has continued. He is a very reliable shooter for this team and someone the Magic can lean on. Off the bench, Tristan Dilla had another solid game. 11 points, four for eight shooting, three for five from three. And Anthony Black, a really great game. 13 points, five for 11 shooting, four rebounds, four assists, four steals, and a block. So, five stocks for him. Um, AB just made a lot of really positive plays. And look, AB has had a weird season. I He’s clearly a much better player. Still kind of getting his feet under him defensively, just understanding when to when to press and when when to when to go after guys. But um I I really love what AB did in this game. Made that huge backcourt steal for and got a layup that that sparked the 90 run that got the Magic in the lead and in the lead for good. Um a lot of really good stuff from Anthony Black. U continues to make a positive impact. Again, like right now like things are just that they’re there just slowly coming together. Um it’s not the speed we want it to be. um you know disappointment is fair again like they are not delivering on things that we assumed would be easily deliverable. Uh and so that is continuing to be the challenge for this team. But no matter how you slice it, no matter what criticism you have and and there’s plenty, the Magic took a step forward on Friday. A 123 110 win over the Celtics is a really good win. They’re one and0 NBA Cup play if that matters to you. Matters to me. um a really good effort, a really good showing, and now it’s just do it again. Let’s let’s build some consistency and and once you do that, then then you could calm everyone down a little bit and really start building out your team. The Magic defeat the Celtics won 23 to 110. They will do it again on Sunday against the Boston Celtics at the Kia Center. We will see you there. But that’s going to do it for me today. I want to thank you all again for listening to today’s episode of Locked on Match. Of course, find me on Twitter, philipr_omd, and on blue sky, philipr. You can subscribe to the podcast and Apple podcast. You’re tuned in Google Play Odyssey and all podcast to your podcast enable device. You can find us as well on YouTube. Just search for lockdown magic. For the latest on the Orlando Magic, be sure to check out Orlando Magicaily.com. You can find us on Twitter, Omagic Daily. And for even more Orlando Magic content, be sure to check out my Patreon page, Orlando Magicub, at patreon.com/orlandomagic hub. As always, thank you for your support. Now that you’re done making Lockown Magic your first listen of the day, go make Lockdown Fantasy Basketball your second listen. Josh Lloyd hosts the number one fantasy basketball podcast, giving you daily tips and helping you win your league, all while making you a smarter NBA fan. Find Lockdown Fantasy Basketball on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. It’s all part of Lockdown Podcast Network, the number one podcast network, your team every day. That’s going to do it for me today though. I want to thank you all again for listening to today’s episode of Lock the Match. We’ll be back after Sunday’s game to recap the Magic second game against the Celtics. But until then, for Orlando Magic Daily and Lockdown Magic, this has been Philip Rossman Reich. We’ll see you all again next time for another episode of Lockdown Magic.

The Orlando Magic rediscovered their hard-nosed identity, toppling the Boston Celtics 123-110. Could this statement win ignite their season?

The Magic used a balanced offensive attack that moved and shared the ball to finally get their breakthrough and power a solid defensive effort.

But it was the team finally responding to adversity that changed things. After giving away their lead, they answered with a dominant fourth-quarter run to put some distance between them and the Celtics and score the victory.

00:00 Lack of Grit and Resilience
08:09 “Magic Learning While Winning”
13:42 Magic’s Success: Fast Ball Movement
29:28 Magic’s Ball Movement Key Question

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