The Orlando Magic could not get the job done in their season opener on Wednesday, falling 132-125 to the Atlanta Hawks.
The Hawks had three 20-point scorers, led by none other Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who buried five 3-pointers en route to a 31-point effort, his 11th 30-point game since the start of last season. The Magic also had a great performance from one of their stars, despite the loss.
Let's dive into our takeaways!
Paolo Banchero dominates, already looks comfortable:
If you didn't know any better, you would have thought Playoff Paolo was making an appearance in the season opener.
It didn't take long for the Magic star to acclimate in his new role.
From the opening tip, Banchero was flowing well in the Magic's offense as a screener, leveraging his gravity and strength into easy opportunities for not only him, but his teammates. He was dominant and in control the entire night, scoring a game-high 35 points with seven rebounds and 10 assists on a near-perfect 10-of-12 shooting and 3-of-4 from 3-point range.
He's only scored 30-plus points on 13 or fewer shots just once in his career: Nov. 2, 2023 against the utah Jazz, where he scored 30 on 9-of-13 shooting.
Most importantly, Banchero getting involved as a screener allowed him to get into a rhythm when he was tasked with leading the Magic's second unit. He's a rhythm player who did a good job not forcing the issue, which he did almost too often in traffic a season ago.
Magic could not close door after hard-faught comeback:
Despite a strong start, the Magic found themselves down by as many as 10 points in the first half and 14 points in the second half. Atlanta's backcourt ramped up the ball pressure, forcing turnovers and disrupting the Magic's flow offensively.
However, Orlando still found ways to execute in the halfcourt. Wendell Carter Jr., Banchero, Franz Wagner and Desmond Bane all had timely baskets. Jalen Suggs had a key steal and thunderous one-handed slam that almost didn't go in.
Orlando fought to the very end, but CJ McCollum and Alexander-Walker converted on multiple key buckets down the stretch to thwart any attempt at a Magic comeback.
One rotation adjustment to keep on eye on for future:
With a first-year head coach, you never know how they're going to manage rotations. It's different with every coach in every organization. And there could be myriad factors that affect how many players play and how different combinations are deployed over the course of a game.
The only certainty heading into Sean Sweeney's first season was that the starting lineup wasn't going to change. But one stark change from Jamahl Mosley was Jase Richardson's insertion into the rotation.
Richardson played fairly well within his limited role. In XX minutes, he scored two points with two rebounds, three assists, one steal and two blocks. The most important development was that Sweeney allowed the 6-foot-1 guard to play through mistakes, whereas Mosley would have yanked him for Jevon Carter -- or would not have played him at all.
Richardson will have bumps. It's not going to be perfect. But I am curious to see if he 1.) sees the floor and 2.) has any sort of leash in games he does -- especially since the Magic went 10-deep tonight.
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