The Orlando Magic were able to beat the Miami Heat for the seventh-straight time dating back to the preseason, and Paolo Banchero relished the success of such a difficult task.
MIAMI — The Orlando Magic completed their season sweep of the Miami Heat with a 121-117 win on Saturday night at the Kaseya Center.
The Magic led by as many as 22 points, but Miami cut the deficit down to as little as two points in the fourth quarter. In the end, Paolo Banchero overcame the defining cheers and taunts of the Heat crowd to sink two free throws with eight seconds remaining in regulation that provided his team a two-possession lead it would not relinquish.
The free throws and a rebound on the Heat’s final shot attempt capped off a night for Banchero in which he had 27 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. The Magic were able to defeat the Heat seven-straight times between the preseason and Saturday.
Afterward, Banchero talked about what sweeping their Southeast Division rival meant while reflecting on his own previous shortcoming against Miami.
“Yeah, man, it's crazy,” Banchero said. “You know, since my rookie year, we've always had tight games against these guys. You know, I've had some tough losses in this building.
“I remember one two years ago where, you know, I just felt like, literally the game slipped out of my hands, I had to lay up at the buzzer and it just, the ball just like flew out of my hands and I remember being so, you know, upset after that.”
That was certainly not the case for Banchero on Saturday, as his stat line lifted him above Penny Hardaway for the second-most games with 20-plus points, five-plus rebounds and five-plus assists in franchise history.
“It's just good to come in here and get wins,” Banchero added. “They're a tough team, obviously, you know, Coach Spo’; great coach, Bam and all those guys over there. So, yeah, I mean, every game's been a battle, you know; none have really been one-sided, and so, yeah, it's a good feeling, though.”
As winners of seven-straight games, the Magic seem to be finding their stride at the right time. They continue to possess the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and now sit 10 games over .500, comfortably out of range from play-in seeding.
“Yeah, you know, definitely a resilient group, you know, through injuries, through all the stuff earlier in the season,” Banchero said. “We've been able to find a good rhythm at the right time and, you know, we want to keep it going.
“We don't want to stop at seven, we want to keep going and playing good basketball right now, we're really trusting each other out there, communicating well, so, you know, this is how we got to play. “We just got to keep building on it.”
Orlando will have a chance to keep the winning streak alive when it visits the Atlanta Hawks on Monday.
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