{"id":701579,"date":"2026-04-06T16:07:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T16:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/701579\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T16:07:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T16:07:17","slug":"how-wagner-magic-rallied-to-win-over-pelicans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/701579\/","title":{"rendered":"How Wagner, Magic rallied to win over Pelicans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Once again, the Orlando Magic came back from a double-digit deficit, earning a 112-108 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. What were a few of our takeaways?! Let’s examine!<\/p>\n

Once again, their defense jolted their offense late:\"Magic<\/p>\n

Apr 5, 2026; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) looks on against the New Orleans Pelicans during the second half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Collectively, it was a poor offensive game from the Magic. They went just 7-of-33 from 3-point range, and from the 6:15 mark in the second quarter to the 8:14 mark in the third, the Pelicans outscored them 33-12. <\/p>\n

Jalen Suggs had a nightmarish first half, while Desmond Bane, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner all had to find a serious rhythm offensively. Trailing by as many as 15, the Magic found Ol’ Reliable and got back to what they do best: Create offense from their defense.<\/p>\n

The Magic held the Pelicans to just 26.3 percent (5-19) shooting in the fourth quarter, limiting them to just one made 3-pointer with five turnovers (three live ball). The Magic’s defense tightened up and, in turn, led to them being more aggressive and forceful on both ends.<\/p>\n

At times, we’ve seen poor defense bleed into bad offense. But they’re at their best when they’re the aggressors on both ends of the floor. <\/p>\n

Franz puts the icing on the cake:\"Magic<\/p>\n

Apr 1, 2026; Orlando, Florida, USA; Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner (22) controls the ball against the Atlanta Hawks in the fourth quarter at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Franz Wagner has not played three straight games since early December. He looked good in their win against Dallas, but was limited to just 17 minutes.<\/p>\n

Wagner was, obviously, going to be on another minutes restriction against New Orleans. But the fifth-year forward was apart of the Magic’s closing lineup for the first time since returning, despite only playing 4:14 in the final quarter.<\/p>\n

Many of the Magic’s top guys — including Desmond Bane, who scored a team-most 14 points in the quarter — made plays down the stretch. But Wagner put the icing<\/a> on their comeback win with a beautiful step-back 16-footer with 43.4 seconds left.<\/p>\n

Breathe, Orlando:\"Magic<\/p>\n

Apr 5, 2026; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Orlando Magic Head Coach Jamahl Mosley reacts to a play against the New Orleans Pelicans during the second half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

A loss to the Pelicans — who are objectively bad, yet have no incentive to lose because they don’t own their 2026 pick — would’ve been yet another example of the Magic playing down to competition this season.<\/p>\n

Through two-and-a-half quarters, it was trending in the wrong direction. Thankfully, the Magic escaped with a win — and moved back to within 0.5 game of the Charlotte Hornets for the No. 8 seed in the East.<\/p>\n

Orlando will take the floor again on Monday against the top-seeded Detroit Pistons, their final back-to-back of the 2025-26 regular season.<\/p>\n

More Orlando Magic OnSi Stories:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Once again, the Orlando Magic came back from a double-digit deficit, earning a 112-108 win over the New…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":701580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3796],"tags":[7,6,478,470,4073,4072,675],"class_list":{"0":"post-701579","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-orleans-pelicans","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-new-orleans","11":"tag-new-orleans-pelicans","12":"tag-neworleans","13":"tag-neworleanspelicans","14":"tag-pelicans"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116358630230734911","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701579","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=701579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}