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ORLANDO, Fla. — Throughout the past five days, coach Jamahl Mosley and multiple members of the Magic continued to stress the importance of Tuesday’s matchup with the Hawks.
And, with postseason positioning on the line, Orlando played with a sense of urgency at Kia Center in their first of potentially three games with Atlanta over the next week.
Behind a combined 55 points from Paolo Banchero (33) and Franz Wagner (22), the Magic secured a key 119-112 victory, scoring 20 points off 18 Atlanta turnovers in the process.
The result is significant because it puts No. 7 Orlando (39-40) in the driver’s seat for homecourt advantage in the NBA play-in tournament with only three games remaining in the regular season.
The Magic already entered a full game ahead of No. 8 Atlanta (37-42) in the East standings. The No. 7 squad would host No. 8 next Tuesday to determine the 7-seed in the playoffs.
With the win, Orlando takes an important 2-1 lead in the four-game series with Atlanta, which hosts the Magic in the regular-season finale on Sunday at State Farm Arena.
The victory is also the Magic’s third straight and marks the Hawks’ fourth loss in their past five games.
Orlando has a quick turnaround when its host the Celtics in the last home game of the regular season Wednesday at Kia Center.
Banchero notched 20-plus points for the 20th straight game before the contest even reached halftime. The Magic forward scored eight of Orlando’s first 12 points when he aggressively attacked the basket.
Even as Atlanta sent double teams his direction, Banchero eventually cracked 30-plus points for the 18th time this season. He added 10 rebounds and shot 7 of 10 from the free-throw line.
Franz Wagner and Wendell Carter Jr. both had 10 points in the first half with Wagner hitting his first pair of triples and Carter adding seven boards.
Wagner added six assists and six rebounds in 40 minutes as he helped initiate Orlando’s offense at times throughout the night.
Banchero and Wagner have now each scored 20-plus points in 11 straight games, extending their longest streak by a duo in franchise history.
Orlando shot 50% (7 of 14) from 3-point range in the first half and finished at 41.2% (well above their league-low average of 31.4%). Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s third 3-pointer of the night put the Magic ahead by 12 late in the third quarter, the team’s largest lead of the night at that point.
Caldwell-Pope finished with 15 points and Carter 17 points with nine rebounds.
Although Orlando did a good job of forcing turnovers, it turned the ball over plenty, Atlanta scored three points off 14 takeaways.
In addition, the Magic left plenty of points on the board. Despite shooting nine more free throws than the Hawks, Orlando only made three more. The group shot 21 of 31 (67.7%) from the charity stripe.
Atlanta’s Onyeka Okongwu (30 points and 14 rebounds) and All-NBA guard Trae Young (28) combined for 58 points in the road loss.
Tristan da Silva was a healthy scratch for the third straight contest as the No. 18 pick has seemingly fallen out of Orlando’s two-deep rotation.
No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher picked two fouls in the opening frame and his third early in the second quarter when the Hawks rookie was held scoreless in the first half.
In his second visit to Orlando, he totaled eight points in 16 minutes.
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And, with postseason positioning on the line, Orlando played with a sense of urgency at Kia Center in their first of potentially three games with Atlanta over the next week.
Behind a combined 55 points from Paolo Banchero (33) and Franz Wagner (22), the Magic secured a key 119-112 victory, scoring 20 points off 18 Atlanta turnovers in the process.
The result is significant because it puts No. 7 Orlando (39-40) in the driver’s seat for homecourt advantage in the NBA play-in tournament with only three games remaining in the regular season.
The Magic already entered a full game ahead of No. 8 Atlanta (37-42) in the East standings. The No. 7 squad would host No. 8 next Tuesday to determine the 7-seed in the playoffs.
With the win, Orlando takes an important 2-1 lead in the four-game series with Atlanta, which hosts the Magic in the regular-season finale on Sunday at State Farm Arena.
The victory is also the Magic’s third straight and marks the Hawks’ fourth loss in their past five games.
Orlando has a quick turnaround when its host the Celtics in the last home game of the regular season Wednesday at Kia Center.
What worked
Banchero notched 20-plus points for the 20th straight game before the contest even reached halftime. The Magic forward scored eight of Orlando’s first 12 points when he aggressively attacked the basket.
Even as Atlanta sent double teams his direction, Banchero eventually cracked 30-plus points for the 18th time this season. He added 10 rebounds and shot 7 of 10 from the free-throw line.
Franz Wagner and Wendell Carter Jr. both had 10 points in the first half with Wagner hitting his first pair of triples and Carter adding seven boards.
Wagner added six assists and six rebounds in 40 minutes as he helped initiate Orlando’s offense at times throughout the night.
Banchero and Wagner have now each scored 20-plus points in 11 straight games, extending their longest streak by a duo in franchise history.
Orlando shot 50% (7 of 14) from 3-point range in the first half and finished at 41.2% (well above their league-low average of 31.4%). Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s third 3-pointer of the night put the Magic ahead by 12 late in the third quarter, the team’s largest lead of the night at that point.
Caldwell-Pope finished with 15 points and Carter 17 points with nine rebounds.
What didn’t
Although Orlando did a good job of forcing turnovers, it turned the ball over plenty, Atlanta scored three points off 14 takeaways.
In addition, the Magic left plenty of points on the board. Despite shooting nine more free throws than the Hawks, Orlando only made three more. The group shot 21 of 31 (67.7%) from the charity stripe.
Atlanta’s Onyeka Okongwu (30 points and 14 rebounds) and All-NBA guard Trae Young (28) combined for 58 points in the road loss.
Rookie watch
Tristan da Silva was a healthy scratch for the third straight contest as the No. 18 pick has seemingly fallen out of Orlando’s two-deep rotation.
No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher picked two fouls in the opening frame and his third early in the second quarter when the Hawks rookie was held scoreless in the first half.
In his second visit to Orlando, he totaled eight points in 16 minutes.
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