{"id":659978,"date":"2026-03-15T18:56:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T18:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/659978\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T18:56:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T18:56:16","slug":"orlando-magic-search-to-snap-another-streak-at-atlanta-hawks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/659978\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando Magic search to snap another streak at Atlanta Hawks"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI \u2014 The Magic<\/a> snapped the Heat<\/a>\u2018s seven-game winning streak, extended their own winning streak to seven games and swept the five-game regular-season series against their in-state rival Saturday night.<\/p>\n

But Orlando\u2019s latest thrilling victory almost didn\u2019t come fruition.<\/p>\n

Jamahl Mosley<\/a>\u2018s squad led by as many as 22 points in the first half and, for the second game in a row, took a 15-point lead into the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

And Miami<\/a> only pushed Orlando<\/a> to its limits inside Kaseya Center from there.<\/p>\n

The Heat, who outscored the Magic by 12 points in the second half, cut the deficit to just two with 8.6 seconds left in the game. That\u2019s when Paolo Banchero sunk a pair of free throws to secure the 121-117 win.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been in this position a lot this year where we get into those tight games and we\u2019ve won a lot of them,\u201d said Banchero, who led all scorers with 27 points. \u201cWe\u2019ve lost some of them. So, I think just as a team we\u2019re comfortable. Obviously we\u2019re not like too \u2026 there\u2019s still a sense of urgency, but at this point in the season we know that we\u2019ve just got to do what we need to do to win the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

To Banchero\u2019s point, the Magic improved to 16-7 in\u00a0games decided by five points or less this season.<\/p>\n

Taking a step further, the Magic moved to 23-11 in \u201cclutch\u201d contests \u2014 games where the score is within five points or less with five minutes or fewer remaining in the fourth quarter or overtime, according to the league.<\/p>\n

To be sure, Orlando would have liked to avoid Saturday\u2019s showing at Miami from becoming its latest clutch game, but it\u2019s just pleased it found a way to win regardless of the situation.<\/p>\n

Orlando\u2019s 23rd clutch win marked the second-most in the league entering Sunday, according to NBA.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey started to come back (and) make some shots,\u201d Banchero said about the East\u2019s seventh-placed team, the Heat (38-30). \u201cWe started to stagnate a little bit but we just had to have more points than them at the end of the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, it did get a little interesting, but I think everybody was just confident that we were going to pull the game out,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The last time Orlando won seven consecutive games was Nov. 15-26, 2023, as part of a franchise-record tying nine-game winning streak.<\/p>\n

Not only have the Magic won their past seven, but they\u2019re also 13-4 in their past 17 contests.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good feeling,\u201d Wendell Carter Jr. said in the locker room. \u201cIt\u2019s been a lot of ups and downs throughout the season (such as) injuries, and we\u2019re still waiting on guys to come back. But it\u2019s a good feeling, knowing the kind of work we put in each individually and then the work we put in as a collective. It\u2019s all starting to come together at the right time. Guys are all clicking.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely think there\u2019s still another level we can tap into, but this is definitely a good feeling to be at, seven in a row now,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Orlando has won seven in a row by relying on its newfound offensive identity from this season and by recapturing its defensive one from the past.<\/p>\n

In the past seven games, the Magic\u2019s offensive rating (122.4) was third-best across the league while their defensive rating (108.8) was fourth-best. Those marks led to a third-highest net rating (plus-13.5) in that stretch, according to NBA.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Recording 25-or-more assists in 15 of its past 17 games, Orlando has now scored 120-plus points 26 times this season, the most in team history. It\u2019s 23-3 in those high-scoring instances.<\/p>\n

But pulling off their next trick won\u2019t be easy either.<\/p>\n

The No. 5 Magic (38-28) travel to No. 8 Atlanta (36-31) on Monday for a matchup with one of the hottest teams in the league.<\/p>\n

Winners of nine in a row, the Hawks own the highest net rating<\/a> in the NBA (plus-18) during that stretch. And they\u2019ve already beaten the Magic twice this season (first by four in the second game of the season and then again by 15 on Nov. 4).<\/p>\n

On top of that, Orlando will still be without Anthony Black (left lateral abdominal strain), Franz Wagner (left high ankle sprain injury management) and Jonathan Isaac (left knee sprain) at Atlanta.<\/p>\n

Jett Howard, who was a late scratch at Miami due to an illness, was listed as questionable on the team\u2019s initial injury report.<\/p>\n

Despite its recent success, Orlando is only focused on the task at hand when it steps onto the court inside State Farm Arena on Monday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t focus on streaks,\u201d Mosley said. \u201cYou focus on the one game in front of you. And every time you focus on the thing in front of you, that\u2019s how you get the job done. If you\u2019re taking care of the things that you need to, and the one game at a time, that\u2019s all that matters. You don\u2019t look back, you don\u2019t look forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got Atlanta next. So now you\u2019ve got to focus on that being the one game that we\u2019re going to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Up next \u2026<\/p>\n

Magic at Hawks<\/p>\n

When:\u00a07 p.m., Monday, State Farm Arena<\/p>\n

TV:\u00a0Peacock\/NBC Sports Network<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI \u2014 The Magic snapped the Heat\u2018s seven-game winning streak, extended their own winning streak to seven games…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":659979,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3776],"tags":[676,208,3874,7,677,165,6,76,1412,80939,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-659978","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-hawks","8":"tag-atlanta","9":"tag-atlanta-hawks","10":"tag-atlantahawks","11":"tag-basketball","12":"tag-hawks","13":"tag-latest-headlines","14":"tag-nba","15":"tag-orlando-magic","16":"tag-social","17":"tag-social-sports","18":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116234720875581129","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}