Emirates Cup play is like a playoff pre-check, and the Orlando Magic are acing the test as their record in the tournament is 5-0, which is currently the best mark in the league. They’ve doubled their earnings and now will at least make $106,187 if they go no further.
They have a date set with the New York Knicks on Dec. 13 in Las Vegas on neutral turf in the Cup semifinals. Getting through two more outfits won’t come easy without Franz Wagner, but they’ve been mentally up to the challenge, considering how they made the last quarterfinal matchup with Miami ugly despite starting in a 15-point crater. This shows they have the basketball equivalent of a chin.
The defense has been second-rated in the NBA in the Cup play, but of course, the Knicks are a different beast, primarily because Jalen Brunson is a nuclear scoring option that sets the mood of the game. He’s mastered pull-up shooting, and despite being listed at 6’2, he is not a small guard since he is powerfully built.
As far as games in October through April go, Saturday’s confrontation is as good as it gets in the modern NBA with drama. The last outing between them got chippy, and Desmond Bane was fined 35 big ones for “throwing the game ball with force at an opponent (OG Anunoby) in an unsportsmanlike manner,” and he joked postgame on Tuesday about needing to recuperate some of the lost funds.
As excellent as he has been in the tournament, averaging 26 points on a 55.7 effective field goal percentage, opponents have likely highlighted him as the top option on the scouting report. It will be up to Paolo Banchero to mainly make his life easier in the last two games.
Orlando and New York have faced off thrice, with the former claiming two victories. Banchero missed one of those wins, played 12 minutes of the Nov. 12 matchup because of injury and was in the last game for 24 minutes. He’ll likely be guarded by a mix of OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges. Being a top-level decoy could be the path, but they will need him to beat the schemes regardless. Keep in mind that New York has been the 23rd-ranked defense in the tournament.
Think back to the last matchup with New York on Sunday: Bane was the only Orlando player who logged multiple baskets and at least made half their shots. Banchero only had 10 digits on 42.9 percent shooting in that span on top of his week first half, and that won’t cut it. If he’s as good as the higher ups think he is, then he should outplay Karl-Anthony Towns on Saturday. Being a national TV would also give him an opportunity to reclaim his status as one of the NBA’s top up-and-comers because Atlanta’s Jalen Johnson has taken most of the shine on that this year.
It’s one mountain at a time, but it doesn’t stop with New York. The West’s quarterfinals are active and yet to determine that race. It could be either the Oklahoma City Thunder, who lost in last year’s Cup Final against the Milwaukee Bucks, or the Los Angeles Lakers, the San Antonio Spurs, or the Phoenix Suns in the Final.
Coach Jamahl Mosley said playing Miami so often in the first seven weeks of the season helps to “learn tendencies. You understand what you can do well, [you] know how to take certain things away. There’s things you can clean up, so it’s good for our guys to embrace that, to see it, to understand what that looks like and [to feel the] playoff atmosphere .”