Why Paolo Banchero Will TRANSFORM AND BOOST Orlando Magic’s offense as he nears his return

Why Paolo Banchero Will TRANSFORM AND BOOST Orlando Magic’s offense as he nears his return

They’re trying to divide us again. They’re trying to tell us the Magic are better without Paulo Beno. But as Paulo Ben Carro gets closer to his return, why Paulo’s going to add to an already potent offense. 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 24th. It will be November 25th, 2025. My name is Philip Rossike. I’m the senior writer over at Orlando Magicaily.com. credentialed member of the Orlando Magic media since the 2012 season. The last time the Magic had an offense in the top half of the league. On today’s episode of Locked On Magic, Palo Beno is getting closer to his return. And there’s a little bit of hand ringing that he’s going to mess up the vibe. Well, I will tell you right now, and I have the numbers to prove it. Palo Ben Carro won’t mess up any vibes. He’s about to make this team a whole lot better. We’ll dive into that. Plus, we’re going to take your calculators out. Get your calculators ready. We’re going to do some NBA Cup math 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 when we upload, we truly appreciate you making Lockdown Magic part of your day every day. You can make lockdown magic even bigger part of your day. By being one of our Orlando Magic dailies, that’s one of our everydayers. It means you’re listening five days a week, listening on the weekends when we post our episodes on the weekends, making us part of your regular podcast rotation, making us your first listen of the day. We truly appreciate all of you who are part of the Lockdown Magic community and we truly appreciate you all for helping make the Lockdown Podcast Network the number one sports podcast network. The Lockdown Podcast Network. It’s your team every day. Today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, use code lockdown NBA for $20 off your first purchase. We are getting closer. Like, we are getting close. The finish line is on the horizon. And it does feel like the Orlando Magic are about to be whole again. And it’s been a while. And certainly after Sunday’s game, we’re eager to have players back from injury. Wendo Carter, Goabat, and Jaylen Suggs were not on the injury report that was posted on Monday afternoon. They are presumably available and ready to play Tuesday against the Philadelphia 76ers. We’ll dive into that game and why that game is really important and really dangerous coming up here in a moment. But obviously the big headliner remains when is Paulo Beno going to be back from his strained groin. There’s been precious few updates. The Magic again don’t give timelines. They don’t put set dates or set time periods for their players to return. They’re back when they’re back. And the expectation is that Paulo Vancero will be back very soon. Jason Bey of the Orlando Sentinel is up on the trip or at least the first half of this trip. He was up in Boston. Talked to Paulo Ben Carroll. Got a got an update directly from the guy. this is why this is why we need to be paid enough to travel so because it’s easier to talk to these guys on the road. Um spoke to Paliban Carroll. Paliban Carroll said that he is making good progress. He’s starting to run a little bit more. Uh and that he is getting pretty close. Um that what does that mean he’s going to play Tuesday? No, it doesn’t. He’s out for Tuesday. He’s been ruled out for Tuesday’s game. Does that mean he’s going to play Friday? Well, that seems to be a little bit more possible. It’s not impossible. And we’ll we’ll hype up Friday’s game here in a minute and throughout the week as well because it is a very very big game for us cup prospectors. But the point is we are nearing the end of this road after two weeks sitting out. Magic are four and two in these games. The Magic are about to get one of their best players out or one of their best players back. And I see it over the internet. I see it in the comments. I see it from the national media. All this hand ringing to say after once again the Orlando Magic seemed to break out and have these huge wins, beating the Warriors, beating the Knicks, h beating the Knicks twice, have these huge wins with Paulo Bancerero out. The question inevitably comes, are the Magic better without Paulo Bancerero. Not that there’s nothing to it and and there is going to be an adjustment. It’s not going to be seamless. It’s going to take a little while. But this is a ridiculous question. Did we learn nothing from the Jason Tatum Jaylen Brown saga? Did we learn nothing that it is good to have multiple good players? Did we learn nothing that Paulo Bancer is not the Paulo Ban Carol that advanced analytics people hate anymore if he’s able to pick up where he left off before his injury? Did we learn nothing from any of this conversation or are we stuck with the same old tired narratives when it comes to Paulo Beno? Because every number from this season would suggest Paulo Bankro is not going to harm this team at all. In fact, he is going to enhance it. He is going to make this team better. a lot of the offensive growth and and look the ball is moving really really well and and that’s something that I I will I will concede Paulo Ben Carol is going to have to do a better job of and making quick decisions. That’s always been my criticism Paulo is that he slows things down a bit too much over dribbles. He’s got to speed speed up his process. But that is exactly what he’s been doing this season. I want to run some numbers by you. I I want to remind everybody what Paulo Bancer was doing in the 12 games he played before he strained his groin and that does include the New York game. So some of these numbers might be a little bit skewed. I want to remind everyone what he was doing. He was averaging only 21.7 points per game. That’s down few fewest since his rookie year, but he was averaging a career-high 8.7 rebounds per game and 4.1 assists per game. Very in line with his career averages. Ben Carro is struggling to shoot. And again, I will concede Van Carol has to be a better three-point shooter. 11 of 44 from three, but his about three a little bit more than three three-point attempts per game, the lowest of his career because every aspect of his game has taken a leap. All those efficiency nerds, all those guys who are saying, “Oh, Powell Vancer is not efficient enough. He takes all these inefficient mid-range jumpers.” Bunk. Palanchero this season is shooting a career best 53% on two-point field goals and a career-high 57.3% true shooting percentage. Maybe not exactly where you want it yet, but a step in the right direction. Give the guy credit for taking some steps. In fact, Ben Carro is shooting nearly half of his shots, 49.4% of his shots within 10 ft of the basket according to according to basketball reference. and he’s getting the line nine times a game. Benerro has become a battering ram going to the basket, getting to the hoop, and being this gravitational well that sucks in defenders with him. Now, the Magic clearly struggled to shoot a little bit to start the season. Not going to deny that. and Berrow certainly was not finding those passers or not finding those open shooters because there was a little bit of a lack of trust. Well, look at we’re going to go into the Magics total offensive numbers in our second segment. This is a very different team and it very much could have come down to this is the offensive leap the Magic were going to make regardless of whether Paulo played or not because they are figuring things out. They’re learning how to play together. They’re finding their way. They’re finding their formula. And look, Paulo was on track to help all of this leading into that game against the New York Knicks where he got hurt. The Magic had a 115.1 offensive rating. That was a full point per 100 possession better than the team’s overall average. He trailed only Jaylen Suggs and Tristan Dilva, third on the team. And the team’s oncourt net rating or onc court offensive rating was on the floor. Obviously, that’s not all about him, but since we like to talk about France Vagner and compare the onoff numbers between Paulo and Fron, and it’s a it’s a constant argument to say, “Oh, Fran the Magic are simply better with Fran Vager on the floor.” And look, they they were and and their bench groups were a big part of that. And Fron is an excellent player. I’m not here to knock one guy to lift another one up. It’s both and not either or. But for the first time in his career, the Magic were better with Paulo on the floor. The Magic have a plus seven and a half net rating with Ben Carroll on the floor and Vagner off the floor. That’s a 120.1 offensive rating, 112.5 defensive rating. Now again, there is context. There are important context clues that matter. Just like Fron played with these superpowered benches at the Magic had over the last few years, this year the bench has not been nearly as good. And Jamal Mosley spent a good chunk of those first few games trying to mix and match and find the right player combinations to make the most of his lineup. And some of those lineups were really rough. Right now it feels like Paulo Bane Carol is going to spend a lot of his minutes with Desmond Bane and Fran Vagner’s going to spend a lot of his minutes with Jaylen Suggs. And so especially early in the season when Jaylen Suggs is still working his way back from an injury is in and out of the lineup and Jaylen Suggs has been a plus minus darling this year. France Vagner probably took the heat and took the onoff heat, the on-off numbers heat for playing with the Magic’s least productive players, Pas Jones, Jonathan Isaac, that the the offensive black holes. Things have changed. Obviously, things have changed. The offense is is functioning on a much higher level. And I do want to talk more specifically about the offense, but Paulo Bane Carro was a shining star offensively when the Magic’s offense wasn’t working in those first 12 games early in the season. And so I’m sitting here and and and I I did an episode on this way back when when people were criticizing Paulo for not scoring enough. And I was just like, “No, no, no, no. He is making better decisions. He is doing the right thing more often now. He is playing more effectively and efficiently. The jumper’s not there. He is attacking, attacking, attacking. And so what I’m excited to see is that Paulo can do all this and now the Magic know what to do offensively. Now the Magic know where to float. They have their pet actions. They’re running significantly more, which is a huge factor I want to talk about in a minute as well. The Magic are better offensively overall. And the things Paulo Benro was doing early in the season are only going to enhance all of it because now they’ll be able to put at least one of their major downhill threats on the floor at all times. I for one am excited to see what this already great offense will do with Paulo Banker on the floor because we do need to talk about how good the Magic’s offense has been. We might have a change of identity happening, which is kind of creepy and scary. And I don’t know what to do with my hands. I don’t know what to do with my hands. Let’s talk about how the Magic’s offense has taken a major leap coming up here in just a moment. But first, today’s episode of the Lock Done Magic is brought to you by our friends over at Robin Hood. Nobody knows your money goals better than you. Robin Hood puts you in control of your money with tools that work as hard as you do. Locking in on every opening, beating your PR, beating it again, channel that drive into your money. 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There are concerns again like I I think the numbers and and again it’s been two weeks and we have no collective memory so it’s hard to remember how good Paulo was playing and again the numbers weren’t popping quite yet and there are some stinkers in there uh and certainly like there’s enough of an average at like a couple bad games early in the season during the one and four start the you know 12 games the one and four start outside of the Detroit game and Philly game not a great start for him um a New York game that’s six games right there that’s half of the games that he’s played. So, the numbers I don’t think don’t quite reflect how good Paulo Beno has been this season. But look, he’s entering a team that’s a little bit more in rhythm and a little bit more understanding. There’s going to be an adjustment period and I won’t deny like Paulo Vancero’s biggest issue is that he holds the ball and that a big piece of the puzzle for him is going to be making sure he keeps the ball moving. Paulo Vancero is third on the team with 3.75 seconds per touch according to Second Spectrum. Um, only the team’s two point guards, Jaylen Suggs and Tias Jones, players you expect to hold the ball a little bit longer, are ahead of him. And for reference, France Vagner averages 3.16 seconds per touch. Desmond Bane’s between them. He’s up like 32 33 somewhere around that. So yes, I I I I’m a big believer that one of Paulo’s big flaws is that yes, he is a bit of a ball stopper. He will get into ISO moves. He’ll try and, you know, do the Kobe or the Carmela or whoever you want to call it instead of moving quickly where he is so much more effective. And I think that’s a that’s going to be a big thing moving forward is getting Paulo to attack quickly and attack quicker. But this is a better and different offensive team than what the Magic saw before his injury. Entering that game against the Knicks. So December 11th, 2025, the day before the Magic played the Knicks, the Orlando Magic’s offense was doing fine, but not anything spectacular. Orlando rated 19th in the league with a 114.1 offensive rate. Again, Magic were 115.1 with Paulo on the floor. Starting lineup’s incredible. Paulo with Fron’s office at 120ome. So definitely room to grow, definitely room to improve, but the Magic offense was nothing special since that game against the Knicks. So starting November 13th, 2025, the day after that game against the Knicks, so these six games that the MA these last six games that the Magic have played, the Orlando Magic have the sixth best offense in the league, a 120.9 offensive rating. Again, this is crazy. We don’t talk about the Magic as one of the elite offensive teams in the league. It’s just it’s just not something they are. But here’s the reality. Through through entering games on Monday, the Orlando Magic have a 116.8 offensive rating. That is ranked 11th in the league. Unfurl the banners. Mission accomplished. The Magic are outside the bottom 10 in the league in offensive rating. And boy does this feel like it’s going to last. Does this feel like this is going to to to last a little bit? The Magic coming off back-to-back games just 130 with their two best offensive games of the season. The Knicks and the Celtics were their two best offensive games the season statistically. Again, I’m not going to argue. I don’t think the Celtics game was particularly good offensive game, but they they scored the points. 133 points per 100 possessions in both of those games. This is a new deal for the Magic. This is something completely different. Orlando is scoring a ton of points. So, how are they doing it? Well, a they’re shooting the ball a little bit better. Orlando is currently sitting at me. See if I can find them here. Orlando sitting 18th in effective field goal percentage. So, three-pointers are going down a little bit more, but not significantly more. Their true shooting percentage is ninth. They’re getting to the line a lot. 59.4% true shooting percentage. They found the right pace. They’re still they’re they’re floating. They’re hovering around the bottom 10 in the league in pace, but even with one of the slowest paces in the league, the Orlando Magic are dominating in transition. This is where the Magic are winning basketball games. And honestly, this is where they lost the game Sunday against Boston. Orlando currently is third in the league with 19 fast break points per game since Paulo’s injury. So again, since November 13th, 2025, the Orlando Magic are, if my stats will load here to just double check, are first in the league with 22.7 fast break points per game. They are getting out and running in a significant way. Significant way. Even though they’re playing a little slower in the half court and they’re not like getting a ton of possessions, that’s credit to their defense. Defense slows the game down. Get more stops later in the shot clock. You know, good defensive teams typically don’t play at break neck speeds, but Orlando’s getting a lot of fast break possessions. According to Synergy Sports, Orlando is currently 1, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Ninth in the league with 22.4 transition possessions per game, but third in the league with 1.25 points per possession. We talked about this a lot last year. Magic are are top 10 in the league in transition possessions, top three in the league in points per possession in transition according to Synergy. Last year, the Magic were near the bottom of the league in both. When Jamal Mosley talked about pace and talked about picking the pace up, this is what he was talking about turning defense into offense, getting out in transition, being a much more effective in transition and all, you know, like yes, the Magic are shooting better. Yes, the Magic are getting to the line a lot more and and that’s gonna be a big thing that Paulo produces is is that is continuing to punish teams at the line. Um get to the foul line, high free throw rate. Magic have the highest free throw rate in the league. Lakers are second. So that game be prepared for three-hour Magic Lakers game. Um this is the biggest change to the offense is the Magic are taking advantage of their defense a lot more. And again, there was certainly a mind shift mind uh mindset shift where the Magic now focused more on getting stops. Again, that was what failed in Boston on Sunday is that they they didn’t get stops. They’re still able to manufacture points. They’re still able to get out and get out and run, but man, but getting stops is the key to powering this offense. This is the way the Magic want to play. Now, you might be sitting there thinking like, okay, let’s bring this back to Po. You might be thinking, well, you said Powell likes to play slow. he likes to hold on to the ball and and not do very much. Well, that’s true, but Palo Mano is actually one of the best transition players on this team and and and again, I think there’s some hesitance because Paulo, you know, Paulo is still a kid, 22, 23 years old. He still wants to define stardom as like, I’m going to break you down off the dribble in the half court, jab step you to death, all that stuff. And and that’s the stuff the Magic got to get out of his game. like you have it, do it occasionally, one, two, maybe three possessions per game, but everything else has to be quick and reactive. Use your power, use your speed, keep defenses off balance. Don’t let them get set because you’re going to be able to bully them around. And if there is any hesitancy on Paulo’s part to this new uptempo style that they’re trying to play, the numbers should tell him like, “No, this is good for you.” Brow has been good as anybody in transition. He’s second on the team with 4.2 2 transition possessions per game and second on the team with 1.44 points per possession in transition. Fran Vagner leads the team in both. Fron’s about 1.52 points per possession in transition and I think he gets like four and a half, you know. Again, some of that is he’s been playing by himself. He’s got a lot more of those possessions and and and I and Synergy won’t break them down to me for me by date so I can’t try to parse parse some things out. This has worked and again we’re still very early in the season. Stats are not super sticky. There could be a there’s there’s still lulls. There’s still concerns about the team being able to shoot effectively enough, but this is a good offense. I I’m I’m ready to declare. I’m ready to say it fullthroatedly. The Magic have a good offense. Do they have a great offense? I don’t know. Maybe it’s great with Paulo and all the things that I’m hyping Paulo up about, but they have a good offense. They have an offense that is reliable. And right now, it’s the defense that’s been inconsistent. right now it’s the def it’s making sure that you get the kind of hard physical defensive defensive game that this team is known for and maybe that’s kind of been the brick by brick they’ve had to build is like okay we got all these offensive toys they’re starting to play a lot better we can lean on our offense a little bit our defense doesn’t need to go as hard we can you know you know put it in selectively like they did against the Knicks and and and find that extra gear that playoff gear when they need it getting this defense consistent back into the top 10 because they’re currently rated 15th in defense right just had their worst defensive game of the season on Sunday getting it back in gear that’s going to be the key to moving and propelling this team forward and again Paulo’s going to help another big body another guy who’s committed on defensive end magic playing good defense with him on the floor this year another attacker in transition another reason to be scared of this Magic team you can tell I am really bullish on what we’ve seen and and if you can tell I only think Paulo is going to make them that much better. It’s going to be a fun game Tuesday night against Philadelphia. Good test to see if the Magic can bounce back and do all these things because it is NBA Cup crunch time. The last three days of NBA Cup action. So, let’s get the calculators out and do some NBA Cup math. We’re going to do that coming up here in just a moment. But first, today’s episode of Lockdown Magic is brought to our friends over at Game Time. Basketball season is officially here and nothing beats being in the arena for those opening games. But let’s be real, getting tickets can be a total headache. Between waiting in cues, surprise fees, and prices that jump right before checkout, it’s easy to get frustrated when all you want to do is cheer on your team. That’s where Game Time comes in. The app that gives fans the advantage. It’s your ultimate life hack for scoring amazing NBA tickets easy, fast, and stressfree. I I go to games a lot obviously and and and I get paid to go to games. I I work at games. So I use game time to check out prices for concerts, for theater, for shows, for other sporting events like Orlando City. Uh when I go to Tampa, I use it to go to the Rays. I’m actually kind of keeping an eye. I got my alerts set. I’m trying to trying to see if I can still get a group to go see Hades Town with me over at the Dr. Phillips Center on Sunday. And game time is so good. It’s not just about sports. I can get tickets to my one of my favorite Broadway shows at the Dr. Phillips Center this weekend on the Game Time app. I used to get tickets to go see one of my favorite bands over the summer, Rock on Modest Mouse. Um, Game Time has it all. And if you are just looking, if you’re just saying like, well, I don’t care about those things. I just want sports. Well, if you’re looking to go to Monday’s big peacock game against the Chicago Bulls, you can check out your seats with a digital view of the Kia Center and get get really some great prices on NBA tickets, even finding them for less than $25. Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. That’s code locked on NBA. L O C D O NA for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go. It is once again an NBA Cup day. We are very, very excited because we here at Lockdown Magic are NBA Cup respectctors. We respect the cup. The cup is everything until it until it’s over and then it and it gets back to the regular season. But the Atlanta Magic find themselves right in the thick of the race for the NBA Cup. And there is a lot on the line. It’s not just a game against the Sixers, some a little revenge tour as the Magico to Philadelphia and Detroit, the site of two of their most frustrating losses of this early season. It’s not just a little bit of a revenge tour. It’s an NBA Cup game and a lot is still on the line. Now, the Sixers are not as hot as they were when we saw them a few weeks ago, about a month ago. Now they’re not anywhere near as hot. VJ Edgecom is out for this game. Paul George is back. Jared McCain is back. Joel Embiid is questionable for the game. So, we’ll see if he ends up playing. And the Sixers, while not as hot, are still playing pretty well. Their offense rates about the same as the Magic. Their defense is a little worse. But in terms of net rating over the last and and in terms of net rating over the last 10 games, the Sixers are sitting right in the middle of the league. Minus 1.9, a 113 offensive rating, 114.9 defensive rating. So, they’ve cooled off considerably and it does feel like this is an opportunity for the Magic to kind of flex their muscle a little bit. They’re back at full strength. Wendell Carter’s expected to play, Jaylen Suggs expected to play. Um, goat is expected to play. If the Magic are the team we think they can be in the way that they’ve played over the last several weeks, because Philadelphia’s four and six in their last 10, Orlando is sitting at 7 and three, a 120 offensive rating, 113.3 defensive rating, uh, 11th in the league in net rating. If the Magic are the team we think they can be, this is the kind of game where they kind of put the hammer down a little or or they assert their will over a team. This is the kind of road win that’s really that you expect the Magic to win and would be a really nice win. Now, let’s get to cup math. We’re ready for NBA Cup math. You got your calculators out. I am sure. We’re going to run through the numbers here. Currently, the Detroit Pistons and the Orlando Magic are both 2 and 0 in group B. Every other team in group B, the Brooklyn Nets, Boston Celtics, and Philadelphia 76ers all have two losses. So, in terms of group B, Tuesday’s game does not matter. The Orlando Magic and Detroit Pistons will play for the right to advance in the NBA Cup for to win group B on Friday night in Detroit. When the schedule came out, we said this game is going to be humongous. It turned out this game is going to be humongous. The winner wins group B and guarantees that they advance. Orlando plays Philadelphia on Tuesday. Detroit will play at Boston on Wednesday. That game is on ESPN. So, you know, again, we’ll the get the appetizer before the big the big turkey stuffing on Friday night at Little Caesar’s Arena. There’s plenty of intrigue otherwise, though, because it’s still possible for both the Magic and the Pistons to advance in the NBA Cup. So, right now, the Orlando Magic are two and 0. They’re the only second place team in any group that doesn’t have a loss. Their point differential is plus 20. The teams behind them, the two the two probably key teams behind them that have a real chance to pass them in terms of point differential have a massive advantage over them. The Miami Heat are two- one with a plus 46 point differential. They blew out Chicago by like 30some points. They blew out Charlotte by uh by a lot by a lot as well. So Miami, despite losing to the Knicks, um Miami essentially controls their own destiny. Now, here’s the rub. Miami plays one more NBA Cup game against Milwaukee. Uh that game, I believe, is Wednesday. That game is tomorrow. No, not tomorrow night because the Heat play tonight. Um that game is Wednesday night. Wednesday night they play Milwaukee. If they beat Milwaukee, they’re three- one. They win the group. Um because Milwaukee would be two-0. They’d play New York. Wouldn’t matter unless New York gets the three in one. New York. New York plays Charlotte. Milwaukee. So, little bit of intrigue in group in group um group uh C. But essentially Miami beating Milwaukee. That puts Miami in the lead. Probably drops Milwaukee who’s plus 16. They play at Miami at New York. drops probably drops Milwaukee out of the race. So the Miami Milwaukee game on Wednesday will have a lot to do with whether the Magic can advance. Again, Miami loses, they’re out. Like you got you’re only advancing in the wild card if you have one loss. Um Cleveland is two-1 with a plus 33. They’re playing Toronto as I’m speaking right now. They lost to Toronto in their cup game in Cleveland. Uh looking over my shoulder, they’re down eight to Toronto about midway through the fourth quarter as I’m recording this. That’s not relevant for this conversation. Cleveland is at Atlanta. um at Atlanta to close their cup their cup action, their cup play. Um they are, you know, again, Atlanta’s been playing pretty well, so there is the chance that Cleveland’s point differential drops. Essentially, what I’m trying to say is if the Magic want to assure that they get out of the playin round, if they get out of this playin round, if they want to guarantee that they’re playing in the knockout round, that means they need a double- digit win against the the Sixers. I I I do think they will need to be above plus 30 to get out of the wild card because Cleveland’s just sitting there. Cleveland’s not passing. Toronto’s already clinched their group. Cleveland is the the running favorite now. Cleveland could lose to Atlanta and you know Atlanta’s one and one with a plus eight point differential. They play uh they’ll play Friday. They play at Washington either tomorrow or Wednesday. I don’t know which day that is. Um, a lot of this math will get a little clearer after tomorrow’s game and and the Magic will have one game left and we’ll kind of know, okay, this is what needs to happen. To say the least, Orlando still controls their own destiny. Again, win Friday, none of this matters. Win Friday, you are advancing. Are you going to be the two seed? Probably not. With Toron, Toronto is plus 53. They play Indiana. Toronto’s gonna be the one seed in the East in in the NBA Cup. Um Miami again Miami if they beat Milwaukee they will be above plus 50. There’s a very good chance Miami is the two seed. So Orlando getting a home NBA Cup knockout game looking very very unlikely. Just just just very very unlikely. The goal I think would be win the group and we’ll all head down to Miami for Tuesday. You know fill the CASSA center as cup respectors. We will drive to all of us will take the bright line down to to Cassa Center and make that place blue. Even though the court’s yellow, we’ll make it blue and we’ll go upset the Heat and get get that punch that ticket to Vegas for the semi-finals of the NBA Cup. If Orlando wants to assure that they advance, they’ve got to win Tuesday by at least 10 to probably 10 to 15 points. I I I I would say 12 to 15 points. A blowout win would almost almost guarantee the Magic will get out of group play. Again, Cleveland plays at Atlanta. Not an easy place to play. Not an easy game to play. They’re at plus 33. So, even if they win, they need a big win in order to pass Orlando. That’s essentially what the Magic need to do is they need to kind of build some cushion between them and Cleveland, especially if we don’t know what they’re going to do against Detroit. So, to get the wild card, I do believe Orlando needs to lose whichever game they’re going to lose close. If they lose a game, got to lose it close. Point, two points, three points, maybe no more than five points. Whichever game they win, they got to win by probably 15 or more points. That’s where we’re sitting at. So, if the Magic Cup respects, and we believe that they are, this game against Philadelphia is a big opportunity to try and push the pedal down a little bit. Now, you got to go out and win the game. Just bottom line, first priority, win the game because again, you control your own destiny. You beat Detroit on Friday, none of this matters. you’re advancing. Your seed is going to be the probably the three seed. You’ll play at Miami or at um or at at Miami. Probably at Miami, at Milwaukee. Uh no, probably not at Milwaukee. You’ll probably uh you’ll probably play home against Milwaukee. That’s the only way the only way the Magic the only way the Magic get to host an NBA Cup quarterfinal game is if they beat if Milwaukee beats Miami. Um and again, that game will be Wednesday. So, if Miami beats if Milwaukee beats Miami, the Magic have a very good chance of hosting an NBA Cup quarterfinal game. That’s the only way. Um, but the Magic need to take care of their business first. So, if you beat Philadelphia by 15 20 points, and again, that’s not easy. That’s not guaranteed. Win the game first. That is the first priority. If the Magic could somehow win that game running away, then they’re in very, very good shape to advance as the wild card, assuming they lose close on Friday or win outright on Friday and maybe put yourself in position to get a home NBA Cup game. Put your calculators down, pencils down. We’ll redo this math to preview that game on Friday before Friday’s game. And we’re going to talk, of course, we’re going to talk with Cookahill of Lockdown Pistons to get ourselves ready for that monumental matchup a little bit later on this week because again, it’s a big matchup. We are cup respectctors in this household on this podcast. And so we’re going to talk NBA Cup. But that’s going to do it for me today. I want to thank you all again for listening to today’s episode of Lockdown Match. Of course, find me on Twitter, philipr_momd, and on blue sky, philipr. You can subscribe to podcast on Apple podcast. tuning in with Google Play Odyssey and all d download podcast to your podcast enable device. You can find us on YouTube as well. Just search for Lockdown Magic. We just passed 4900 subscribers. So tell your friends because we need that last 100 to get to 5,000 would be an awesome awesome Thanksgiving gift for me. Um and be a great Thanksgiving gift for you as this community continues to grow and get bigger as the Magic continue to push toward the playoffs. Tell your friends, get all your burner accounts, subscribe to Lockdown Magic. For the latest on the Orlando Magic, be sure check out Orlando Magicaily.com. You can find us there on Twitter, omagic Daily. And for even more Orlando Magic content, be sure to check out my Patreon page, Orlando Magicub, at patreon.com/orland Magicub, with exclusive insights and exclusive added content, including some video breakdowns. Um, subscribe today at patreon.com/orlandomagichub. As always, thank you for your support. Now that you’re done making Lockdown Magic first listen of the day, go make your second listen to Lockdown Fantasy Basketball Podcast. 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. All part of Lockdown Podcast Network. It’s 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 Lockdown Magic. go back tomorrow to recap the Orlando Magic’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers. Should be a good one. Again, that is an NDC broadcast, national broadcast. You can check out the 30-minute pregame show with our friends from Wes. Shout out to Darren and Kristen. Uh and um shout out to Darren and Kristen for for the hard work they do on that on that show. Um definitely check that out before the Magic second NBC game. Very very excited to uh redeem themselves a little bit after their first NBC game. But we’ll recap that game on tomorrow’s episode of Lockdown Magic. Until then, for Orlando Magic Daily and Locked On Magic, this has been Philip Rosson Reich. We’ll see you all again next time for another episode of Lockdown Magic.

Paolo Banchero is inching closer to a return from his strained groin. There is already some handwringing and belief that he may derail the offensive growth the team has gone through.

The numbers from before his injury do not support that. They support that Banchero will boost the team’s offense with his improved efficiency and driving and potential to be another ace passer. The Magic are seemingly about to take another big leap with his return.

The truth is the Magic’s offense seemed poised to take a major leap as the team played together more and understood their offense. Their growth in transition has especially turned the Magic into one of the best offenses in the league.

Plus, it is an NBA Cup night. What do the Magic need from their game against the Philadelphia 76ers to advance and position themselves for the wild card?

00:00 Paolo Banchero’s Impact Debate
09:04 Magic Lineup Dynamics Explained
18:57 Magic Excel in Transition Play
26:00 Magic’s NBA Cup Pursuit

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