38. Finale. 92. 170. Magic Hornets Final 3/19/24. 112
During Tuesday morning’s shootaround, Cole Anthony was surprised to learn that the Orlando Magic could clinch at least a spot in the Play-In tournament with a victory against the Charlotte Hornets. Ending the season and achieving at least part of the team’s overall goals still seemed far away.
But the playoffs are rushing towards them, ready or not.
Not to mention the Play-In was such a small thing. There are bigger ambitions to be achieved with the Orlando Magic battling the New York Knicks for home-court advantage in the Eastern Conference.
Excuse the Magic for not celebrating appropriately after the fact. They know there is still work to do.
They saved their celebrations on the court where they beat the Hornets 112-92 with a stifling defensive performance, holding them to 32 points and clowning them with plays like this:
SHOW TIME @Pp_doesit behind the back for @jalensuggs! pic.twitter.com/UI2iqwPFEG
– Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) March 20, 2024
Yes, that’s Jalen Suggs snatching the ball away from Brandon Miller, triggering a fast break and finding Paolo Banchero on the run only for Banchero to return the favor with a behind-the-back pass to Suggs for three. Suggs knew he had to shoot it and he knew he had to put the icing on the cake by turning around while he was still in the air.
This is the kind of daring play that a team can only make when they fully dominate the game and play with supreme confidence and enjoyment.
This is how the Magic would celebrate getting to the playoffs, by doing everything that has defined this team and its success.
Orlando led by as many as 41 points in the first half and held the Hornets to just 32 points in the first two quarters. It was quite the defensive clinic the scoreboard looked like in the victory.
The Magic didn’t need performances from Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, even though both set the tone. They got 16 points and six assists from Jalen Suggs and 21 points (19 in the first half) from Cole Anthony to bulldoze the Hornets.
Orlando is indeed officially heading towards the playoffs. And even if it’s not the final destination or goal the team wants to settle for. This is at least a first objective achieved and a clear sign that the team is back on the national scene.
“Mose has said all along we’re going to be an elite defensive team,” Anthony said after Tuesday’s win. “I think we continue to improve on the defensive end. . . . We just have some really good defenders on this team and we just have that drive as a team to want to guard. That goes a long way.”
In many ways, the Magic made it to the playoffs by playing Magic basketball. They hounded the Hornets defensively throughout the game, with Suggs leading the charge in stifling players on both ends. He finished with six assists and three steals.
Those turnovers led to 18 fast break points and 20 points off 17 turnovers. Orlando was released and attacked downhill throughout the evening.
They also moved the ball with 32 assists on 44 field goals. The ball was jumping everywhere when the starters were present and the Magic were feasting on shots in the paint – 60 points in the paint on 30-for-41 shooting.
Charlotte had very little room to breathe throughout the evening. Orlando put together a special defensive performance in the first half that put the game out of reach.
Hornets coach Steve Clifford stressed before the game that his young team’s margin for error was slim. The Magic eliminated any trace of that margin for error pretty quickly. Orlando asserts himself with this breathtaking and pressure-filled style.
They also did all this with a smile on their face. These are the Magic.
“They’re taking full ownership of what we’re capable of doing,” coach Jamahl Mosley said after Tuesday’s win. “That first half was special. The way we got into the basketball, the possessions finished, the turnovers forced, we were able to come out on the break and yes, they were celebrating and enjoying the offensive side of the court, but everything was started with our ability to sit and stand guard in the right way.”
The Magic have established their brand of basketball. This is the first step for any playoff team. They fully assumed this identity.
As unimportant as landing a .500 season and a Play-In berth may be in the grand scheme of things, it’s an important marker for the team. It’s an accomplishment that speaks to the journey.
Mosley took over a team that was at the start of a rebuild. They won 22 games their first year and improved to 34 last year and on the doorstep of the Play-In as the last team eliminated from the playoffs.
This year they continued to improve. And Mosley and the players credit the team for taking the same approach every day to improve. It was an accomplishment earned day after day thanks to the work and trust they put in each other.
“I think it’s really special to keep a group together,” Suggs said after Tuesday’s win. “We lost little pieces. We added little pieces. But that same core group, we’re all there. Just seeing what it was like when we were losing, seeing what it was like when we were struggling, continuing to find our journey individually and as a unit. Now this year it’s all kind of come together. You see the camaraderie, the joy, the competitiveness and how much everyone has grown individually and as a unit. Everyone coming together is just beautiful to watch.”
Orlando stuck with much of the same roster – adding a few small pieces here and there and a big chunk in the draft – and stayed with the process that got them here.
The Play-In tournament is indeed something small. But it’s something.
As during their nine consecutive victories in November, the Magic wants to be greedy. Their goal is to stay hungry and see what else they can do.
The work is not finished even if this small objective is achieved. And the Magic know there’s still a lot of work to do.
“I think we continue to focus on one game at a time, develop our habits the right way and stick to our style of play,” Mosley said after Tuesday’s win. “But again, knowing we’re there but not being happy with it because it’s not what we planned to do. We had decided to play our best basketball in March and April, and that’s what we’re going to continue to do. do consistently. Our level of work, our level of focus every day that we know we have to do to get to where we’re trying to go.
Following. Magical starting lineup 03/19/24. Orlando Magic starting lineup propels team to playoffs. dark
That has always been the message to the Magic. They see this accomplishment as the surest sign of their growth and proof of what they are capable of. But they are not able to be satisfied.
