The Orlando Magic finally ended their losing streak on Thursday, and Desmond Bane took to the podium to discuss it.
ORLANDO — The Orlando Magic were able to outlast the Sacramento Kings on Thursday, 121-117, snapping their six-game losing streak in the process.
Afterward, Desmond Bane met with the media to talk about the clutch 3-pointer by Jalen Suggs down the stretch and what the victory meant for the team.
“Yeah, I mean, huge shot. Welcome back, J,” Bane said. “You know, good to have him back in the lineup, for sure. But, you know, it started with Paolo; made the drive, the gravity that he has, making a selfless play to kick the ball out. You know, got the defense in rotation, and, you know, we all made the right play.”
Bane finished the game with 23 points while 6-11 from the field, 3-6 from the perimeter and 8-8 from the free throw line. After praising Suggs and Paolo Banchero, who led the team with 30 points, he highlighted the level of relief in the locker room after snapping the losing streak.
“I mean, there's a little bit of relief, but I think the group’s just very hungry to play better,” Bane said. “You know, we understand that, yeah, we won, but we have to play better basketball if we want to do what we want to do down this stretch.
“So just, you know, conversations in there on how we can improve on both ends of the floor, you know, to help us in Toronto, go get one in Toronto.”
The Magic led by nine points with under three minutes remaining in the game but allowed the Kings to go on an 8-0 run to cut Orlando’s lead to one point before Suggs bailed the Magic out with the 3-pointer from the elbow with 27 seconds remaining.
“I mean, it's a make or miss league,” Bane said. “You know, I mean, DeMar DeRozan comes down and shoots a similar shot that he had been shooting all night, and missed a couple of them, and we were able to finish the possession with rebounds.
“You know, a couple times when the shot went up, we didn't finish every possession, so I think that was, you know, one of the things,” he added. “And then offensively, we were just able to execute and get what we wanted.”
Bane also credited forward Jamal Cain, who contributed 11 points on 5-6 shooting off the bench.
“I know he was capable of this,” Bane said. “You know, he was a guy that was guarding me all summer, you know, through open gyms and stuff like that. We'll let him tell you how that went, but it was good.
“You know, he's a real competitor, plays really hard on both ends of the floor, makes the right play, so, yeah, it's good to see him finally getting his opportunity, and he's making the most of it.”.
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