Paolo Banchero's 18-point quarter sparks Magic's comeback vs. Hawks

02/21/2025 03:18 PM

The Orlando Magic opened the second half of their season with a 114-108 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday night, improving to 28-29. Paolo Banchero led the way with a double-double, finishing with 36 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists while shooting 11-for-16 from the free-throw line.

Banchero ignited the Magic's offense in the second quarter when they trailed by 19 points with just over 10 minutes remaining in the first half. Banchero took control, scoring 18 points in the period and spearheading a 38-18 run to help Orlando take a 59-58 lead into halftime. The Magic maintained their advantage in the second half, securing their 28th win of the season.

Banchero credited his teammates for his aggressive mindset during the second quarter.

"That was just my teammates telling me to be aggressive," Banchero said. "When I checked in, we were down double digits, and my mentality was just do whatever I've got to do to cut into this lead and give us some more room at halftime. That was just the mentality in that second quarter. We were able to get the lead going into halftime, and then in the second half, we just did a great job of managing the game."

The slow start put Orlando in a deep hole early, but the defensive adjustments turned the momentum in their favor.

"I say we wasn't really getting stops to start the game," Banchero said. "It was causing our offense to be really slow because we're grabbing out the net every time and we wasn't getting in our stuff quick—so, just came to the bench and said we gotta start getting stops, getting out running, putting some pressure on them and then get to the next action after."

Paolo Banchero’s dominant second quarter fuels Magic’s comeback vs. Hawks

Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley highlighted the energy Banchero brought to the court and how it fueled the team's comeback.

"I mean, you could feel the energy there. I mean, when he makes shots and he's attacking the basket, he's getting downhill, getting to the free throw line, you feel his energy and the group feeds off of his energy," Mosley said. "But that's the type of group this is. They feed off of each other's energy and if one guy's going, they're going to respond to that, and that's what got that run going… because one, he was making shots, knocking down shots, getting to the free throw line, but we were getting stops and getting easy ones as well."

Franz Wagner contributed 25 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, while Cole Anthony added 17 points, five rebounds, three assists, three steals, and a block on seven-of-13 shooting. Anthony spoke about Banchero's second-quarter performance and the impact he has on the team.

"I mean, he and Franz are the leaders of this team. So, like when [they] get going… when either of them get going, they start, I kind of can tell," Anthony said. "Franz [is] going to start talking to the other team. He's going to start popping his mess. And then with P, he's going to get that look on his face. He's going to scream a little bit, but he's going to get that look on his face, and you know what time it is.

"Eighteen points in a quarter, I mean, that's more points than I had all game. So, I mean, that's more points than most of us had [in] this game. That's impressive. Big shoutout to P."

Magic aim to build momentum against Grizzlies in back-to-back

The Magic now return home for the second game of a back-to-back against the Memphis Grizzlies (36-19) on Friday at 7 p.m. ET. Memphis is coming off a 127-113 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night. The last meeting between the Magic and Grizzlies ended in a 124-111 loss for Orlando, with Wagner scoring 23 points while Banchero struggled, shooting four-of-12 from the field for 16 points.

Banchero acknowledged that while Thursday's win was important, the team still has areas to improve heading into their next matchup.

"I think just seeing what we did tonight, honestly, I don't think tonight was our best game," Banchero said. "I think we just played hard and had great energy and we were able to make enough plays to get the win. But there's a lot of stuff we can improve on. Memphis is a really good team — know that they're gonna come in ready to play and they're gonna present a pretty good challenge."

The Magic will look to carry their momentum into Friday night's contest as they aim to build on their second-half push in the standings.

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