EP. 574 – Magic In Motown – Orlando Magic Podcast

EP. 574 – Magic In Motown – Orlando Magic Podcast

This is the Sixth Man Show, an Orlando Magic podcast with your hosts Kevin Tucker and Jonathan Osborne covering all things Magic Basketball by fans for fans. Go Magic. What’s going on Orlando Magic fans? You guys are back with the six-man show. Today is December 1st. Yes, it is December 1st, 2025. Jonathan Osborne here as always, joined by my co-host Kevin Tucker. Kevin, yes, it is December 1st, if you can believe it. What’s going on? I really can’t believe it. That’s actually kind of crazy. But, uh, with December comes some special opportunities for the magic here on the horizon to make some really fun noise. But, uh, it’s kind of weird. We haven’t talked in a week, so, you know, obviously we took a little Thanksgiving break. You know, enjoyed the holiday. Hey, did you have a nice nice Thanksgiving? I certainly did. Yeah, we host every year. So, um like usually each year people come and they’re like, “Hey, you know, like thanks, you know, we you know, want like a leftover plate or whatever.” And like last year, I remember us not having a ton of leftovers. This year, for whatever reason, I don’t know if like people think Carmen’s cooking isn’t so great anymore, but like people just didn’t really take a lot of leftovers. So, we’ve just had so much food. So, I’m like Thanksgiving leftovered out at this point. What about you? How was your Thanksgiving? Yeah, it was good. We we hosted as well. A little smaller gathering, but we hosted. Had a good time. And uh but yeah, it’s it’s it was an adventure for sure, but I’m glad to be out of that part of the holiday season and moving on to Christmas and all the fun things that December brings as well as the the NBA Cup holiday, which I consider a holiday now that the Magic are going to be involved in it. That’s what I was going to say. Speaking of adventures, what an adventure we had this week with the final East Group BBA Emirates Cup uh cup games. Two victories. I you you joked and said I bullied you into picking the Magic to go 2-0 last week, but they did swept the East Group B uh group for the NBA Cup and are the number one seed in the Eastern Conference heading into the quarterfinal. Kevin, insane. you know, like looking back over this stretch of games, you know, we said I’m gonna pull it up exactly to make sure, like going through the specific dates, we said a couple weeks ago that this was the stretch that could potentially break the Magic season. It’s it’s too early for anything to make the season, but it could break the season. After the start or break, yeah, after the start the Magic had, it was like, this is the stretch. And in that stretch, the Magic have done really well. Like you you beat New York at MSG. You had that really close loss. Obviously, Golden State, Clippers, we’ve talked about all those games. You beat the Knicks at home. That’s great. But then this week was kind of the end of that, you know, that stretch where it’s difficult games, but these are also cup games. You go to Philly and win by 40 freaking one. And then you go to the top seed in the Eastern Conference right now, the Detroit Pistons, and you grind out an amazing win on Friday. And all of that combined, this was this was a great November. and this week in particular. I know it was only two games. We’re going to talk about him, but it was really, really special and it’s definitely gotten the NBA’s attention, I would say. Yeah, the Magic went what was what is that? Um 10 and four in the month of November. And the reason that you and I had again we were pretty close to doom and gloom, just short of doom and gloom, I would say. Like we were very close to panicking. Uh but with with good reason because right before that stretch you had the win against Portland that it took the Desmond Bane three to get that one and then we’re like okay things are feeling pretty good. You go to New York like you mentioned in MSG you beat the heck out of them and we’re like all right we’re back and then it takes you going on like a crazy run the last couple of minutes against Brooklyn to you know squeak out the seven-point win. It’s like all right what are we what team are we? are we this team that’s just barely going to beat bad teams or are we the team that went up to New York and handled them? And I was like, okay, here we go into this stretch and uh the Magic went what is it? Five and two in that seven game stretch. And we’ll talk about, you know, how well the Magic playing recently. Um but yeah, what a week. I mean, we we said after the last pod that like, hey, like we’re we’re during the last pod, I think, that the Magic are back. They’re they’re more than than back. like this Magic team. This is the the best the Magic have played in almost six years of doing actually no it’s almost seven years be seven years in February almost seven years of doing the pod and this is the best the this is the best Magic I’ve ever been like right now the way that they’re playing the teams that they’re beating they don’t have Palanchero back yet like it’s it it’s crazy that a week from today we could be talking about this team being the two seed in December. Yeah. And and here’s the thing, you know, we talk about the NBA Cup. So the other part of this equation is what’s ahead, right? So Magic 4-0 in the group, amazing, all that stuff, top seed in the East. Their reward, our reward is hosting the Miami Heat in the quarterfinal of the NBA Cup next Tuesday. Uh what is that, the 9th, I think it is. Um that’s crazy. First off, how exciting. How fun that’s going to be. It’s going to be an Amazon Prime exclusive. Actually, all the games the rest of the way in the NBA Cup are Amazon Prime exclusives. So, no FanDuel Sports Florida for that one, unfortunately. But, it will be interesting to see the Magic on the National stage again. That game on Tuesday the 9th is at 6:00 p.m. Eastern time. So, that is tragic. But, we’re going to have to make the most of it. Um, but yeah, I think um I think Magic fans should show up for that one. Uh, that’s going to be a pretty big one. Pretty fun environment, fun atmosphere. I’m just picturing Jaylen Suggs already. Like the dude’s already a maniac, but you add those kind of stakes, that kind of spotlight, the dude’s going to be going crazy. So, Magic fans, be sure you show up for that one. That’ll be fun. Is there a reason why they couldn’t have split these quarterfinal games up a little bit better? Like an East and a West matchup each night. That’s what they did the last two years. And then the two years of the NBA Cup, that’s what they did. And then this year, they decided to do this weird stuff. Hey, guess what? We got to find a way to screw the magic. Let’s do something we’ve never done before. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, there’s no reason why they couldn’t have done 7 and 9:30 and 7 and 9:30. But I like I guess on the one hand, I understand it because that means it’s going to be equal amount of rest for the two Eastern Conference teams and Western Conference teams that play, you know, in the semi-final. But still weird that one team has to be at six o’clock. And of course, it’s going to be the Magic, of course. Yeah. But oh well. Well, we’re a few minutes into this one and I know you’re wondering who is this episode brought to you by. And this episode is brought to you by Bravo, David T. Ellis, Afrien, and Lewis Rosario. These are some of our Hall of Fame and elite tier patrons. They went to patreon.com/the6man show and joined at our hall of fame or elite tier level. So, we give those groups of patrons a very special shout out each episode. And whenever we have brand new patrons, we also give them a very special shout out. So, if you’re not part of the Patreon yet, if you join between now and the next episode, you’ll get your own shout out on the next episode. And a real quick little FAQ because we get this question asked almost weekly. If somebody joins at our allstar tier or higher, you get instant access to our Discord channel. People ask, “Oh, well, how do I do that?” Well, if you already have a Discord account, you go into your Patreon account and in your settings there, there’s the option to connect your Discord account to your Patreon account. So, if you do that, you’ll automatically have access to our Discord. So, maybe you haven’t joined yet and now you’re hearing about the Discord and you want to join. Again, head on over to patreon.com/the6manshow. Pick whatever tier works best for you. A big shout out to all of our patrons. We really appreciate your support. One other thing for this NBA Cup, Jonathan stuff. Let’s talk about what happens after that game because it gets a little confusing what happens after that game. Win or loss. Just a reminder that every game of the NBA Cup except for the final counts towards the 82 games of the regular season. So on on the schedule right now, the Magic were scheduled for 80 games, then two for the NBA Cup, whatever that looks like. So we know the first we know the 81st game is going to be that Miami game on Tuesday the 9th. If the Magic win that game, they go to Vegas. They play in the semi-final against the winner of the Toronto New York game, right? And then could potentially go to the final after that, right? If the Magic lose to Miami, god forbid, next Tuesday, they then have to play an 8-second game and they will play the loser of the semi-final between Toronto and New York. Where it gets even weirder is if Toronto is the loser and the Magic are the loser, the Magic host Toronto on that Friday. If if the Magic lose and the Knicks lose, the Magic have to go to Madison Square Garden for the second time in 5 days. And for the third time in a month, the Magic will play at MSG if all that happens. Now, there’s a lot of ifs there, but just a heads up, that’s what could happen, but let’s plan for a win. Let’s beat Miami next Tuesday. Let’s go to Vegas. Let’s play the Raptors or the Knicks, and then let’s play the Thunder. And let’s beat him. And then let’s just win the NBA Cup. That’s my plan. I don’t know what you guys think, but that’s my plan moving forward. So, we talked about how this is a 6:00 tip off, so very, very weird. Um, have a feeling that the first half of this game is going to be like not empty, but not nearly as full as we would typically expect a game at tip to be. A lot of people are going to be getting off work at like 5, 5:30 and trying to make it to the game. But, this needs to be like a rocking crowd. So, if you can be there, talk to your boss, see if you can, you know, head out a little bit early. If we need to write you a note, we will. By the way, maybe we do that. Maybe that’s something we post to social media. Like, we just draft up a a fake uh note um that you can give whoever for the the the reason of booing the Heat essentially. But no, like the tip off sucks. It is what it is. Um, I mean, the Heat are going to be used to this, you know, people showing up like midway through the game, so I guess it’s kind of an advantage for them, but if you can get to the game at tip, like be there. Um, Kev, are you going to be able to be there for this one? Don’t I just don’t know how it’s not I I would not be able to leave here until like 1:00. Yeah, it’s just really tough. It’s gonna be really really tough. So, I probably not I can’t see it happening. I will be there and I man I am getting to the age Kev when my voice was went crazy like opening night it wasn’t right for like 3 weeks after that so I’m going to I’m I’m learning to have to like pick my spots right I’m getting up there in age you know like a like LeBron James right he’s got to pick his spots in these games you can’t just kind of go all out so some of these younger pups you got to start you know carrying that torch a little bit for us older guys, you know, in in the moments when when we need it, but I I just don’t know if my voice can handle going crazy for a full 48 minutes anymore. I just I don’t know that I have it in me. So, I believe is washed, as the kids would say. Oh my gosh. Now, here here’s the question. You mentioned, this is a side side rant. What does mean to you? Like uncle. Mhm. That’s what I thought, too. You know what someone said on the internet that it apparently to some maybe the younger generation what it means? Sounds like the oldest statement you’ve ever made. You know what somebody said on the internet? Yeah. Uncool. N that’s apparently for some generations that’s that’s what they that’s what they mean. So no I thought was Yeah. Like you’re talking about you just an older dude like you know but apparently uncurr dictionary still it says short for uncle. Good. I hope it’s right. But someone on the internet whoever said that is uncool. All right. Yeah. They’re unk. Yeah. So, yes, get to the game. It’s going to be awesome. Hopefully, we beat the crap out of the Heat. And then once we win that game for approximately 5 minutes, I’m going to be looking up prices for flights and hotels in Vegas and convince myself that I can go before I probably decline because, you know, roughly like four weeks after that game, we’re going to be going to Europe. Yeah. Not not probably not a smart move that way, but we’ll see. But I mean to see the Magic potentially win their first ever NBA Cup, you know, I mean only happen only happens once. I don’t know. Here’s the thing. There’s there’s a little bit of a gap. You know, the semi-final is on a Saturday, the final on Tuesday. So, if they win the semi-final, you got three days to decide. Yeah, you’re right. All right. Okay. Have to play it by ear. Well, we’ll see because like traveling to Vegas honestly is not that expensive because they want to get you there so that you can lose all your money gambling. But yeah, three days in Vegas with nothing to do doesn’t sound like a good idea. Doesn’t sound like a good idea. Fly up Tuesday for the game and fly back. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, Kev. uh a couple of games since the last time that we talked again, I bullied you into predicting that the Magic will go 2 and 0 and they did that. But I don’t really think in the fashion that we expected. Uh if we go back to Tuesday, I know as you’re listening to this on Monday, it feels like a million years ago, but why don’t we go ahead and and relive this one together because it genuinely was one of the more special nights in Orlando Magic history. Uh, boys are tied up 35 apiece with the 76ers after the first quarter. And then Anthony Black goes absolutely thermonuclear scorched earth in the second quarter where he shot eight of nine from the floor, three of three from behind the ark. Had one free throw made and a steal. He scored 20 points in the second quarter. And Jaylen Suggs had nine assists in the second quarter. The Magic shot 74% from the floor and five of eight 62.5% from three and made six of their seven free throw attempts in the quarter. They scored a franchise record 51 points, the most points an Orlando Magic team has ever scored in a single quarter on their way to putting up 86 first half points over the Philadelphia 76ers. had a 26-point halftime lead to which they got up to 46 points in this game to eventually win it 144 to 103. A 41 point you know what kicking over the Philadelphia 76ers in Philly. This was this was really something. Now it has to be said has to be said the Sixers were missing some very important dudes. You got to you got to address it. No Embiid, no Paul George, no VJ Edgecom, couple other guys like who are the Magic missing? I I understand. I understand. The followup to that is though, if you’re a good team and you’re coming up against a team that’s missing some guys, you should probably beat them well. And to me, like beat them well is like 20 and the Magic went out there and did it by 41. And so to whatever arguments you want to say about the Sixers, like the Magic took care of business. They they took care of what was in front of them and what was in front of them was shocking a Sixers team that’s missing some guys, which is pretty much every night for them. But yeah, 41 points that second quarter was I don’t want to say like an outof body experience, but maybe like it was just like what is happening? like what is this? Especially because it’s not like the Magic, you know, built this lead through purely defense, right? Like the Sixers scored 60 points in that first half. Typically, in the past when the Magic have blown teams out, they’re they’re really shutting them down defensively and but no, it was it was the offense. It was the the 80 what what did you say it was? 86 points in the first half. 86 points. Ridiculous. Like ridiculous stuff. 51 points in the second quarter. Anthony Black with 20 by himself in the quarter. It was so much fun and it was it it was a game that I think obviously we’ll remember for the rest of the season and statistically that’s a game that’s going to go down in Magic history for a really long time. Well, with 27 seconds left in the first half, there were some fireworks between these two teams because at that point, the 76ers were down 23, I think it was, or 24. They were down 82 to 58. 27 seconds to go. Uh, Andre Drummond and Wendell Carter Jr., they’re going down the floor. I think they got tangled up like initially and then uh Dell is looks like he’s like posting up or setting a screen and Andre Drummond is grabbing at the back of his jersey or at the back of his shorts and like kind of tugging on them. Wendell kind of, you know, pushes the hand away. Drummond does it again. Wendell forcefully pushes the hand away. They start kind of, you know, jawing, pushing one another. Andre Drummond puts his hands up like he’s gonna swing on Wendell and Wendell just gives him this look of like, “Bro, what are you doing?” Yeah. And then tells him like, “Go ahead and do it.” Jaylen Suggs comes over. He pushes somebody. I forget who it was. There’s there’s a dude on the 76ers I’m just not very familiar with. Davis, um, gets in his face. Jaylen pushes Drummond, I think, pushes Davis. Desmond Bane like shoves Davis as well. It looked for a second that something actually might happen and then you have to remember, wait a minute, this is an NBA game. Guys push and shove and get each other’s face and no punches are really ever thrown. Um, that resulted in Wendell and Andre Drummond getting double technicals, Desmond Bane getting a technical, Jaylen Sus getting two technicals and ejected from this game. Mhm. to which I mean the Magic won by 41 so it’s kind of hard to be mad at anybody but in that moment I was like Jaylen we just can’t you can’t get thrown out of this game. Nine assists in the second quarter. Jaylen was genuinely incredible in this game in the minutes that he played 15 minutes by the way. Yeah, it was it was and there was some we’ll have to pull it up in in a second here, but there was some stat that I think Orlando Magic PR posted like some crazy stat about Jaylen getting that many assists in the minutes that he played in in like one half. Uh but didn’t love that. I still don’t understand. Jaylen Suggs absolutely deserved his ejection in this one. I don’t know how Andre Drummond didn’t get ejected from this game. Like putting your fists up is like the ultimate escalation short of throwing a punch. That’s true. Right. So the fact that he didn’t get ejected was wild, but like Drummond talked about it after the game like we were just I was just trying to kind of get our team going and it didn’t work. They come out of halftime. They got out scored 35 to23 in that third quarter again. the Magic Build as much as an 80 or sorry, 46 point lead, 80 points in the in the paint, 82 bench points in this one, and this was just one of the most dominant games you will ever see in in the NBA. Yeah, it was really, really quite something. And yeah, the whole Drummond thing and Jaylen like Yeah, the problem the problem with the Jaylen thing was if he had just gone up to Drummond and defended Wendell, it’s just a tech and it it moves on. But like you said, like the moment he turned and interacted with the other I can’t remember who it was, the other Sixers player, that’s when it’s it’s it’s two texts cuz it wasn’t just like an interaction. It was like he quote unquote defended and then he turned and instigated with another guy. And so that’s where the two texts came. And so I was pretty boned about that. But yeah, all in all, just a a game for the record books and and a game that was just comprehensive in every every way. Like we talked about or I talked about the defense in the first half, you know, you give up 60 points in the first half, which not the magic standard, but the second half you only give up 43 43 points in the second half. And so yeah, the fact you win by 41, you hold them to 103 points. And again, go back, it’s an NBA Cup game. This matters. The point differential matters, especially when you look at the standings, what ended up being, you know, you’re 4-0, the Raptors are 4-0. You only won the point differential by nine over the Raptors. Nine points. And so, you talk about a 41point win. If that had been a 32-point win or a 33-point win or back up, no 31point win, you would have been the second seed and you would have been hosting the Knicks instead of hosting the Heat. And so all these things add up. All these things matter. And so give the Magic a lot of credit, taking advantage of what was in front of them and just absolutely not just beating down the Sixers, but this was a quote unquote get back game too cuz you know the Magic had a pretty disappointing showing against the Sixers earlier in the season. And um yeah, so to do that and then to do that against the Pistons as well on Friday, which we’ll talk about, was it was pretty cool to get to see that. And it was uh Jabari Walker was the other player. I don’t know why M. Davis was for Mark Davis, the official who gave out the text, which I don’t ever remember seeing in a play-by-play before, but Jabari Walker was the 57th pick in the 2022 NBA draft. So maybe that’s why we haven’t been super uh familiar with him. But yeah, just awesome game all the way around for the Orlando Magic. We’ll go through the box score here. Fron had 21 points, only played 26 minutes in this one. I don’t think he played at all in the fourth quarter. uh eight of 13 from the before we talked about Anthony Black. 31 points a careerhigh for AB. He had his careerhigh like midway through the third quarter. Or no, actually I think it was in that second quarter now that I’m remembering correctly because his careerhigh was 23 before this one. Uh 12 to 17 from the floor, 406 from behind the arc, had a rebound, three assists. Jaylen had 10 points in n in uh sorry had 11 assists, four points in 15 minutes, two of seven from the floor, five rebounds, but again nine assists in that second quarter, including one that uh you will hear about in this episode. Two steals, two blocks. The block on Andre Drummond was really awesome. Um Wendell with 12 points, eight rebounds. Desmond Bane had 15 points, six rebounds in this one. Goa had 10. Tyus Jones had 10. Noah Penda had 10. Jet Howard had 10. Jace Richardson had seven points. Tristan Dilva had 10 points. I think there were, let’s see, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine players in double figures for the Magic, I think, which was also a franchise record in this game. Magic just setting franchise records all over the place in this one. 144 103. Huge win over the Philadelphia 76ers. It’s time for this week’s Jam Hot Chicken Jam of the Week. A lot of candidates for this one, but we ended up going with a very special throwdown in T or excuse me, in you know that was right, Tuesday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers. This was way way back when the game was in single digits. Way way back in the second quarter. Magic just started to get a little bit of momentum. Anthony Black just started to get going on the way to his historic second quarter. And Jaylen Suggs finds Anthony Black with a three quarters court alley to put the Magic up eight. A lead that they would never even come close to relinquishing after that. It was a really big moment. Again, part of that run in the second quarter. Part of the 51 points in the second quarter by the Magic. Part of the 20 points for Anthony Black. It was big time and a big moment in the game. Again, this was part of growing that lead. It was really special and it is this week’s Jam Hot Chicken Jam of the Week, which is brought to you by Jam Hot Chicken, who is bringing Jams Culture and Hot Chicken to the heart of Winter Park and to Winter Garden as well. They’ve been a partner with us. This is, I think, our third season with Jam Hot Chicken because they are the best. We not just love their food, we love that they’re diehard Magic fans and they love this Magic fan community. So stop on by whether it’s in Winter Park or Winter Garden, you love some good chicken, you love some hot chicken, that’s the place to go. We always warn people, you think you know spicy, you think you like spicy, try a level below what you think you can handle. If you think I’m a spicy guy, I’ll take hot. Try the mild first. Ease your way up and then maybe someday maybe you can earn the jam title cuz that jam hot is really hot. But also, when you go to Jam Hot Chicken, use the code sixman, s iix t hm an if you’re ordering online or in person, you can just tell the person taking your order that uh you know you have the code sixman. That’ll get you 10% off your order again at either location. Winter Garden Winter Park. Big shout out to Jam Hot Chicken for sponsoring the show. And again, go enjoy some amazing hot chicken. This episode is also brought to you by the Posit Group, your home team on and off the court and your Orlando real estate resource of choice. They are the most followed real estate brand in Central Florida and Orlando, the 225 Orlando weekly best of Orlando real estate company, 2025 OPYS Real Estate Team of the Year. They’ve helped over 2500 plus families buy and sell here in Orlando and they’re impacting lives through real estate. So whether you’re looking to buy a new home or maybe you’re looking to move elsewhere in the city and you need to sell the home that you’re in, the Posit Group is the group to help you. Posit Group agents outs sell the competition by five times and they’re in the top 1% of sales in the United States. And not only are they the official real estate group of the Sixman show this year, they’re also the official real estate group of the Orlando Magic. So, not only are they supporting the fans and the fan community, they’re supporting the Orlando Magic this year as well. So, again, if you’re in the market for a home or you’re looking to sell your home, there’s no better group to call than the Positic Group. You can go to posic.com to find out more, get more information. We really appreciate our friends over at the Posic Group. And now, let’s go ahead and get back to the episode. And you mentioned Tuesday being a getback game. The Magic also had the opportunity for another get back game on Friday. So if you go back to October, on October 27th, the Magic lost 136 to 124 to the Philadelphia 76ers. On Wednesday, October 29th, the Magic lost in Detroit to the Pistons 135 to 116. So, same kind of situation where you play Philadelphia, next game you play Detroit, had the opportunity for another get back game. And that’s exactly what this was. This one much closer obviously than the game against Philly. There were 17 lead changes and nine ties in this one. Magic were down two at the end of the first quarter, up one at the half, up five in the third, and then I believe they uh were up 10 with about four and some change to go. I think the Magic went on a little bit of a run there if I’m not mistaken. Yes, this this game uh yeah, 95 to 85 with 8 and a half to go. Then the Magic Yeah, they’re up 100 to 90. It was 6 and a half to go. And then Houston go Houston Detroit Detroit goes on their own 10 to nothing run over the course of the next two minutes and they tied it up with four minutes to go here. I’m going to go to my notes from this game. Magic were down 3-13 and down by as much as 13 in the first quarter. Eight to nothing run to end the first. Also a 15 to nothing run in this game. Uh Jaylen Suggs started 0 of 10 from the floor in this game. Tough first half for for Jaylen, but he made up for it later. Um the officiating in this game, Kevin, I know we’re going to talk about it. It was equally bad on both sides of the basketball. I don’t think it necessarily caused uh either team the game one way or another, but it was just the inconsistency where like Fron Vagner’s getting completely bowled over and then on the other end Kate Cunningham would get like a touch foul on the wrist and and shoot free throws. Um Jamal Mosley with the challenges late in this one, two balls that originally were called off of the Orlando Magic. Jamal Mosley, I think it was the second one, didn’t even look to the bench. uh before calling the challenge. I think it was the one Desmond Bane kind of coming from behind hits off of I don’t know if the first or second one was the leg or the fingertips of Kade Cunningham, but two huge challenges late in this game that the Magic uh used uh to basically get possession of the ball back. Last couple minutes of this game, we’re down one. Desmond Bane hits a layup, gets fouled, makes a free throw, puts the Magic up by two. Next possession, Fron Vardner hits a layup. Puts the Magic up by four. Pistons come back. Tobias Harris hits a three. Jaylen Suggs takes a three. Kate Cunningham drive to the basket. Desmond Bane pokes the ball loose. Originally ruled out on the Magic. Jamal Mosley challenges that ruled Magic ball. This next possession, the Magic get three offensive rebounds and this really closed out the game. Fron takes a three, misses it. Bane gets the rebound. Fronn takes another three, misses it. Bane gets the rebound. Wendell goes up. It gets blocked by Jaylen Duran. He gets the rebound. Wendell gets the ball to Jaylen who gets fouled. Two free throws. Magic are up three with 6 seconds to go. And then Anthony Black blocks Duncan Robinson on the final possession of the game. Magic win 112 109. NBA Cup group B champs go into pit into into Detroit. beat the Pistons, beat the number one team in the East. What a win, Kevin. What bothered me about this game afterwards, I saw more posts and more highlights of Kate Cunningham’s missed free throw than I did about the Orlando Magic’s win in Detroit. And to be fair, it was a nice play. If you miss it, it’s the intentional missed free throw at the end that gave them the chance to tie it up or yeah, tie it up with the the Duncan Robinson three. Um, which got blocked by the way. But yeah, I just I saw that I saw more talk on the internet about that than about the Magic winning in Detroit. But regardless, what a win. Like I was a little bit disappointed that Detroit had lost on Wednesday to Boston, you know, so their streak was ended because they won 13 in a row before that. I really wanted us to break that streak. But regardless, oddest team in basketball, not named Oklahoma City. You know, they’ve won 13 of their last 14. You’re on the road. Um, you’ve been on the road since, you know, Sunday. So, you know, they’ve been on the road. This is five days in a row. They’ve been gone. You know, you’re you’re in Detroit for Thanksgiving. That’s not not the most enjoyable thing, I guess. Um, and then yeah, you have you have to play this Detroit team that’s obviously been very very good. Um, and then you you win it like that. Like for me, getting the three offensive rebounds in within, you know, the span of 30 seconds, you know, having a a 30 second or it was longer than that. It was more like a 40 second possession. That was just the coolest thing, especially to do it against the Pistons who are known for their rebounding. That was really special. And I mean, this is the Desmond Bane game so far this season. 37 for him with zero threes made. Crazy. That was crazy. So, really special night. And I love it because there’s still a lot of tension when these two teams play. Something about the Pistons, the Magic. Maybe it’s just cuz both teams are physical. I don’t know. But very, very chippy. And I know they’re looking forward to seeing us again. I know I’m looking forward to seeing them again uh the next time we play. And all I could think about during this game was just feels like these teams are destined to face off in the playoffs sometime in the next year or two. And that is going to be uh what what is it? Three words. Orlando Magic Detroit Pistons. Mustsee TV. So there you go. That’s my Charles Barkley for you. Yeah. Uh it was essentially like a 38sec possession. You start that possession with 44 seconds left and Detroit gets the ball back with 6 seconds to go. Um, this was just this being up 10 that late in that game and then them going on their run with that Detroit crowd going crazy. You know, they’ve they’ve seen this team win, you know, 13 out of their last 14. They think, okay, if you go on a winning streak of that long, like you end up winning some games that you shouldn’t, right, where you’re down late and stuff like that. So, this crowd is thinking to themselves, “Oh my gosh, they’re going to do it again.” And then they just can’t get a rebound on on that last possession. And like you said, Cade executes, you know, he makes the first free throw, executes that, missed the first he missed the first free throw. That was the thing. He missed the first one. That’s what put them in that position. Yeah, cuz cuz he missed the ones on Wednesday in that game against the Celtics and then he turned around and did it again on Friday. That’s why they missed the second one. Yeah, that’s right. Yeah. and then to get that to Duncan Robinson AB to close out make that play just huge. And now we’ve talked a little bit about this um but the Magic winning I think it’s what are they 11 and4 over their last 15 games. One of the best records in the league the way that they’ve played. Um have their numbers here for the last 15 games. They are fourth, no sorry, sixth in offensive rating and fourth in defensive rating, fourth in net rating and 11 and four in their last 15 games. I just don’t know how it it seems at this point, you know, shy of getting Paulo Bankro back, which the Magic will not have Monday against the Chicago Bulls, like how this team could be playing any better basketball than they are right now. Yeah, it’s it’s quite the turn of events. You know, you think about the beginning of the not just the season, but don’t forget that Atlanta game that was in November. You know, we talk about how great this month was. It didn’t start that way. And so to turn around and not just not just be winning, but to be, you know, quote unquote advanced metrics. All the stats are saying the Magic are really good. And you add to it some of the competition that the Magic have had this month. You know, when we talk about winning in Detroit, winning at MSG, winning against the Knicks at home, barely losing against the Rockets without Jaylen Suggs of Palero. Um, second night it backto-back in Boston. You’re down by 26. You almost come back to win that game. Like on and on and on the list goes. It’s a very, very impressive month. And honestly, you could not have asked for a better way to end the month with these two games in Philly and Detroit. Really quickly, we talked about Jaylen starting 0 of 10 um in this game and then I think it was just like a a minute or so into the second half. He hits a corner three and then Magiker up five with uh 645 to go and he pulls up from three. Essentially, it’s the two with the the foot on the line and then the very next possession he gets the steel on Kade like kind of acts like he’s going to like guard the low man. comes back. Kade isn’t really uh expecting it. He pokes the ball loose, runs down the other end. He’s got a twoon one, and then essentially like stops from the Detroit logo, pulls up for three. Before that shot goes in, what are you thinking about Jaylen S? I think he was like two of 11 from the floor at this point or two for 12 from the floor. Honestly, honest to goodness, my thought when he takes this was knowing Jaylen, this is going to go in, right? Like, of course it is, right? Like, he’s had this knight, all of a sudden he gets gets a long two to go, gets the steal, and he pulls out. I’m just like, of course, this is going to go in. It’s like one of those eye rolls like, “All right, here we go.” And then it went in. It sure did. And so, uh, give him credit. He made I mean, that was that was a huge stretch right there. That’s a big five-point swing in the span of just a few seconds. And uh give him credit for hey, just shooting the thing. You know, it’s what you got to do. And then he’s got the tough leaner uh on Cade with about three minutes to go to put the Magic up one once. Detroit had come back. I know you already talked about Desmond Bane, but doesn’t make a three. 37 points in this one. Like early in the game, it was Desmond Bane. It was Anthony Blacking keeping them afloat. We talked about how the Magic just like to start the game like I felt like the first couple minutes the energy was okay and then it was just gone and then you’re down 13 and you’re like man are we going to get just waxed by this team again for the the second time in a month and the way that they responded and um just continue to fight like all through that game and into the second half. It’s just we’re sitting here Sunday night recording and to pull up the NBA standings here. Magic are sixth in the league. They’re now over the Cleveland Cavaliers by a half a game uh because of the the loss column. So the Magic as of right now are a game and a half behind the Knicks and the Raptors basically for like the two and the three seed. and you you’re a game back of Miami. So if you beat Miami this week on Friday, what is that? Friday, right? And that’s not Yeah. You play the Heat twice now in the span of what is it? Five nights. Yeah, five nights. Yep. So you can like a week from now as we record, we could be sitting here as the the two seed. Paulo is not back and this just like it not just because of the record, not just because of the standings, but especially when you just look at how good the Magic have been over the last 15 games now, like essentially the last month, sixth in offensive rating, fourth in defensive rating, fourth in net rating. The Magic have been like unequivocally a top five team in the league over the course of the last month, Kevin, and it still doesn’t feel like this team has hit its ceiling. It still doesn’t feel like they’re playing as good as they as they can and should be in large part because they’re still missing Palo Bank and Mo Vagner. you get both of those guys back and you successfully like integrate or reintegrate Paulo and integrate Mo Vagner, like we’re we’re talking about a team that, you know, over the course of a of an entire month could be the absolute best team in basketball. It’s going to be tough with tough with OKC, you know, but I mean, look, all it takes is we’ve been playing, you know, for the last, you know, three weeks now without Palo Vancero. Not that we want anybody to get hurt, but all it takes is like a team’s number one guy to go down and like OKC’s been playing great without, you know, Jaylen Williams. He’s back in the lineup now. I like again don’t want this to happen, but if they lost Shay for like an extended amount of time, I don’t think they’d be 19-1 or whatever, right? So, you just never know what happened. Like, injuries are a part of the game. injuries are apart. Like as good as the Magic have been over the last month, they could have been even better if Paulo had been in the lineup. And maybe we’ll save like the mini Paulo rant like for the end of of this pod cuz it’s just it’s just gotten so dumb. People just like to hate Paulo for whatever reason. Um but like this is as good of a basketball as the Magic have played in in a very very long time. Like even thinking back to, you know, like the nineame win streak, you know, a couple years ago, like this team just feels like it’s playing at a a a level that we haven’t seen in since number 12 was uh were in the pinstripes long, long time. But uh yeah, it’s really really special. And I agree like some of these wins like the the Tuesday win against Philadelphia, I don’t know how that could have been better, but I I agree like in a lot of these other games there there still feels like there’s another gear to hit, especially when you think about perimeter offense, right? Like I mean Friday night we beat the Pistons by shooting I think what was it 16%. Six of 30 something like that on Friday, right? and you still go to the number one team in the East and you beat them, right? That’s the kind of stuff where I agree it feels like there’s still another level that can be had. Um, again, it’s one of those just shoot league average and that game’s not close. Um, and so yeah, I’m I’m very excited. Again, the the addition of Mo Vagner, like obviously we all know what Pal is going to bring you when he comes back, but we have not seen Mo Vagner play basketball in 12 months now, right? Yeah. And so to get him back, whenever that’s going to be, I think it’s just going to be a lift for this team, not just as a basketball player, but just another emotional lift for this team. And again, it just feels like there’s another level available. And hopefully we can tap into that soon. You know, we’ll talk about the week ahead here in a little bit, but like the schedule, I I don’t want to say it gets a lot easier, but you have a lot I mean, you’re at home almost this entire week until you go to MSG. It’s a lot of winnable games. Um, and then January really has some winnable games. Obviously, we got a month to go, but there’s some opportunities for some some real noise making when you get guys healthy. You can get on a run. Um, and so, yeah, one game at a time. We’ll start with Monday against Chicago, but it’s hard it’s hard for me not to look ahead and get excited. I’ll put it that way. It’s basically like after Christmas, you have you like a three-week stretch there where where the schedule is is pretty favorable. And uh yeah, five of 30 from three. Like I I genuinely don’t think in in years past the Magic win this game against this team. Shooting five of 30 from deep. Really doesn’t happen. Really impressive performance for the Magic. Um Magic are all the way back and now I’m all of the metrics are like pointing to the Magic being awesome. Just kind of waiting for the rest of the national media to to pick up on that. And uh it’s not so much the national media as it is just pe stupid people on Twitter who keep this stuff going that like the Magic are are better without Paulo and they like to point to all the advanced metrics and everything like that. And it’s just like it’s just outrageous to think that the Magic couldn’t be doing what they’re doing now with Palanchero in the lineup. Especially when you just look at how good that starting lineup was to start the year. To think that Desmond Bane wasn’t knocking down shots. He still kind of hit or miss with that from deep. We still need to figure that out. Jaylen Suggs was still on the minutes restriction. You know, wasn’t playing back to back. Just playing in these like four, five minute spurts. Anthony Black obviously has gone up another level since Powell Banko has been out. Um, and I think what Anthony Black is doing is scalable, right? Like he doesn’t need the ball in his hands a ton to do what he’s been doing. Maybe he won’t have as like high scoring outputs, but like the aggressiveness and the efficiency in which he’s been scoring. I think all that can scale down just a little bit when a guy like Paulo Bancerero comes into the lineup and the team is defending again and it’s everybody’s defending again. It was not a Paulo Bancerero thing. the Magic were the second or third best defense in the league last year with Palibancero. Um, so all of those factors go into why this team looks so much better right now as opposed to a couple of weeks ago and zero of it has to do with Palibano not playing. This team is only going to get better when Palanchero is in the lineup. And I I can’t wait for, you know, a month from now when the Magic are, you know, the second or third team in the Eastern Conference and people are going, “Oh, wow. The Magic are actual contenders. Look at the leap that Palo has taken, etc., etc.” And it’s like, no, he’s kind of just doing what he was doing the first few weeks of the season and now everybody else is playing well. That’s right. That’s right. Yeah. And people forget, you know, people see or it’s two it’s two things. People that watch the Magic forget what he does and what he can do. The people that don’t watch the Magic don’t watch the Magic. But the first point that you made is the most jarring thing to me. People that actually watch the games who are like, hm, maybe we are better without Paulo. Like, what are we doing? Yeah. People forget, and I know some we do have some bandwagon fans, some fans who, you know, weren’t watching the games in like 2021. People forget where this team was before Palanchero was drafted. Yeah. And and how rapidly he’s helped this team improve over the course of the last couple years and how good he’s been in the regular season, but especially in the playoffs and it’s like you win a few games without the guy and now all of a sudden, oh, the Magic aren’t going to be as good with with this guy who is like so clearly like a top 15 to 20 guy in the world. Yeah, absolutely. It’s crazy. He’ll prove him wrong. He’ll prove him wrong. The thing that is interesting though, he’s now missed Has he missed eight games and Monday will be nine or is Monday Monday will be nine. I believe Monday will be nine. So the threshold for NBA awards or teams, award teams, those kinds of things is 65 games. You have to play in at least 65 games to be eligible for that. So he’s going to miss at least nine. So 82 – 9 73. That means he currently after Monday will have eight games available that he can miss over the course of the rest of the entire season. The last 60 games of the season, he can only miss eight more games before he becomes ineligible for some of those things. Now, on the one hand, obviously the most important thing is that stinks for him. You know, um who knows what kind of, you know, level he’ll play for the rest of the season, but that stinks for him because that could remove him from conversations of all NBA team, those types of things. It does get interesting. I don’t want to say it’s a good thing. I would never cheer for this, but it it does have a silver lining if there’s anything to where that does impact contract stuff when it comes to Paulo. And not um being awarded with certain things in the NBA changes how much teams have to pay you is what it comes down to. So, I hate I obviously would prefer that he’s playing amazing. He’s playing all these games and he’s an allNBA level. Um, but that is something to keep an eye on. Just just speaking practically here, that is something to keep an eye on because like I said, he’s at just, you know, eight or nine games, you know, remaining before he’s going to potentially hit that threshold. Now, yeah, what Kevin is referring to is that because he signed the designated uh rookie max extension, if he makes an AllNBA team this year, the last year before the extension kicks in, uh if he makes an AllNBA team, he’ll be paid 30% of the cap uh each year of that contract extension. If he doesn’t, he’ll only be paid 25%. So that additional 5% um can help the Magic do things like avoid second aprons and and things like that. Again, not that we’re rooting for that. If it was up to me, I would just want Pal to make all NBA because it means that he’s awesome and and the Magic are going to be way better because of that obviously, but um let’s say he doesn’t reach those thresholds. Um it is just one of those things where it’s like okay well you know it does help the Magic in this way. Uh through four seasons you know first season played 72 games second year he played 80 last year he played 46 largely because of the oblique injury. Um and yeah, so he’s missed eight, he’s going to miss nine with the game on Monday, which is going to impact him a little bit. But if he can come back, stay relatively healthy, you know, maybe miss a game or two here for, you know, an ankle, like whatever happens. Um still can, you know, meet all those numbers and if the Magic continue to play at this level and he’s awesome when he comes back, he’s going to be in those types of all NBA conversations. All right, we’ve spent a little bit of time kind of like dancing around the schedule and, you know, upcoming games. So, let’s go ahead and take a look at the week ahead here. Monday vers Chicago tip off at 7:30. That game is going to be on Peacock. Wednesday at home versus the San Antonio Spurs. It looks like that is going to be a game without Victor Wmanyama. I think the Spurs are like 5 and one in their last six games without WBY. So, just like the Palo Ber arguments, obviously the Spurs are better without Victor Womenyama. And then the Magic host the Miami Heat on Friday at 7:00. And then on Sunday at the New York Knicks, there is a 12 PM tip off. Kevin, let them know why. Uh, the New York Rangers are hosting a game that night at 7:00. So, it’s a little double dip there at MSG, Knicks at noon, Rangers at 7:00 p.m. But hey, as weird and awkward as it is sometimes for us, I do love these games because our friends over in Europe and around the world really get a better a more optimal viewing time of The Magic. That’s going to be like a 5:00 pm tip off for our friends in the western part of Europe at least. That’s pretty cool for them. Uh but it is a little awkward. So yeah, Chicago, San Antonio, Miami, all at home back at home this week, which you love to see Monday, Wednesday, Friday before you go to MSG and then getting a step ahead then 48 hours later you come back home to face Miami in the NBA Cup. But uh yeah. All right. Uh this week I’ll go first this time. you went first last week and then you peer pressured me into saying 2 and 0, which you were correct. I’m going to say 3-1. Um, and here’s why. I’m going to have us beating Chicago. I’m going to have us beating San Antonio. And I’m going to have us beating Miami. So, a nice little win streak there at home. The only reason I’m not picking the Magic to win on Sunday at MSG is because the Magic have lost their last three games on Sundays. Something about Sundays this season has just not been good. In fact, they’re 0 and3. They’ve all the games they’ve played on Sunday this regular season so far, they’ve lost. And until I see that trend break, I’m going to say they lose next Sunday at MSG. Um, and in fact, just looking at November, that’s where three of the four losses came. You take away Sundays, this team was like 10 and one, which is crazy. But anyway, joking aside, I’m I’m picking us to lose against the Knicks. I am as well. Um maybe for the sake of being different, I’ll just say 4-0. I I do think you beat Chicago, San Antonio, you have to win those games. This the way that this team is playing. Those are just kind of like take care of your business. Like win those games, beat Miami on Friday. I know there’s the chance that we play New York again in the NBA Cup, but as that is like yet to be seen, it’s just tough for me to say that you sweep the New York Knicks in the regular season. Two of those being in MSG. Thought the last time that we played the Knicks, uh what was that? Last Saturday the 22nd, thought that was kind of their opportunity for a get back game and they got their butts kicked again. If we beat if we win this game, the the Knicks are in legitimate trouble. Like legitimate tr. You if you consider yourself like a contender in your conference, you can’t get swept by another contender in your conference. You have to have some pride. You have to find a way to win at least one of those games. Yeah. At least I would think so. Right. So, I don’t I’m just I’m gonna say 4 and0 just so that I’m a little bit different. But like I it’s a weird start time. Yeah. Home game for them. Yeah. I just And then it’s this weird thing of like I don’t want to call it a trap game, but it’s like the Magic it would be awesome to win this game, but you already have the like the tiebreaker in hand against them and they’re kind of going to be looking forward to Tuesday, like the NBA Cup quarterfinal. I don’t want to say it’s a it’s a trap game, but I I I don’t think it’s crazy for the Mags to kind of be looking ahead. Yeah. In in this one. basically, you know, that game would be small potatoes because the Magic are looking ahead to a bigger prize. That’s what you’re talking about against the And they’re like, “Hey, like we’re we’re probably going to have to play this team or possibly going to have to play this team again in the semiinal.” Yeah, exactly. The other thing I’ll add about this week finally for the first time in All of that can change if Paulo is back, by the way. You tell me Paulo comes back at any point in this week and I’m picking the Magic to go 4-0. Yeah. for the first time since uh October 29th, if if my data is correct, for the first time since October 29th, the Orlando Magic will have a game, not just one, but two games this week where they have a rest advantage over the opponent. Finally, Wednesday, the Spurs are on a backto-back, the second half of back to back. And even Monday against the Bulls, that’s their third game in four nights. is the first we did not get a rest advantage the entire month of November which is crazy not a single game and so the fact that that that should add a little bit of especially Wednesday the Spurs I know they’ve been playing wellies going to be out they’re going to be the second night of a backto-back third game of four nights you got to take advantage you got to beat him and so yeah I’m going to go three and one um but hey maybe Powell comes back this week and spices things up but yeah that’s as of right now the Houston Rockets have yet to play backtoback this season crazy it’s coming up Uh I think it’s today and tomorrow I think is the back toback. So finally the fifth I thought. Nope. Nope. It’s the 30th to the 1st. Yeah. It’s one of those the amount of backtobacks they must have like the rest of the way. Like they’re going to they’re going to feel like they’re playing a backtoback like every other night. Yeah. It’s going to be insane. Oh, okay. Yeah. Sorry. Yeah. For some reason I forgot that November has 30 days and not 31. It’s true. Yep. 30 days. Yeah. They play the Jazz on Monday, which like Yeah. What? What a back to back for them. The first at Utah. Yeah. Utah. Utah. Are you kidding me? Get out of here with this. NBA. So, their first back to back is actually the fifth and sixth. Yeah, you’re right. First Phoenix at Dallas. Insanity. Then the 20th, 21st, uh, and then they then they don’t have another one until But what a back. I mean, they’re at home, but like OKC Minnesota, but whatever. Um, no, I did really quickly. So, you have this stretch that we’re talking about this week. Then you have um, you know, Miami and potentially other NBA Cup games, but then December 18th starts a three-game road trip at Denver, at Utah, at Golden State, at Portland. But then starting here, home for Charlotte, home for Denver, at Toronto, at Indiana, at Chicago, home for Indiana, at Washington, at Brooklyn, home for Philadelphia, home for New Orleans, the two Europe games versus Memphis, then verse Charlotte. That’s almost a month of the Magic should be winning like three out of four games in like each of those stretches. Like if we look at that, that is a 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 game stretch where I think you might be favored in all but maybe two or three of those games. Yeah. So if the Magic can go like 11 and two, 10 and three, 13 and0. Exactly. Like in that stretch, that’s when we’re talking about like the Magic or the two potentially the one seed. Oh, yeah. One seed by then. Yeah. Going into late January. Yeah. That like we stressed we stressed a little bit to start the season, but every we we said if the Magic can turn it around in this stretch, everything we talked about this season is still possible. And it still is. Credit to these guys. Credit to Jamal Mosley for even though things were going crazy just kind of like made adjustments as we talk about pace right made hasn’t made some adjustments that we want not all of them yet at some point I feel like they’re they’re coming but um just kind of kept this team steady enough to figure it out has them playing great basketball right now and like maybe we don’t see this team reach its ceiling until that stretch and then going into the All-Star break and into March and playing their best basketball in April. If this team is the freaking one seed in the playoffs, I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself. We calculated so fast. We are We are a long way away from that. We are, but we aren’t. Here’s the thing. the the the phrase that we’ve used many times, small sample size. We’re at 20 games, we’re a quarter of the way through the season, not a small sample size anymore. So, even the last 15 games, that is not a small sample size. Not a small size. One of the best four teams in the league in that stretch. Pretty crazy. But yeah, anything’s possible. Anything’s possible. We’ll see. Okay. Um trying to think, is there anything else? Nope. I think that’s it. Let’s go ahead and wrap this one up. That is going to do it for this episode for Kevin Tucker. This has been Jonathan Osborne. You all have been listening to the Sixman Show and we will catch you guys next time. See you. Thanks for listening to The Sixth Man Show. Be sure to subscribe on iTunes and Spotify to get new episodes downloaded directly to your phone. If you enjoyed the show, please take a minute to give us a five-star rating and a review. It helps out the show a lot. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @6manshow. We’ll catch you guys next time. Go Magic. Let’s go back.

The Magic have been one of the best teams in the league for the last month. Jonathan & Kevin break down the last two Magic victories and look ahead to the NBA Cup Quarterfinal!

Join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thesixthmanshow

Buying or selling a home in Central Florida? Go to https://pozek.com — Your home team on and off the court.

Eat at JAM Hot Chicken! Get 10% off your online order with code “SIXTHMAN” at https://jamhotchickenfl.com

Follow Us: https://www.thesixthmanshow.com/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/sixthmanshow

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SixthManShow

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thesixthmanshow

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSixthManShow

Hosts: @j_osborne21 & @kevin_tucker_

Music: Prod. by Tantu Beats

If you enjoyed the show please LIKE & SUBSCRIBE!

#OrlandoMagic #OrlandoMagicPodcast #PaoloBanchero #BlueWireVideo #FranzWagner