Haunted by a historic Game 6 collapse against Detroit, Paolo Banchero and a hungry Orlando squad aim to transform postseason heartbreak into a deep championship run.
The Orlando Magic believe they are ready to compete for an NBA championship, but can they realistically contend in what projects to be one of the deepest Eastern Conferences in recent memory?
Orlando came within one win of reaching the second round last postseason after building a 3-1 series lead over the top-seeded Detroit Pistons. However, the Magic were unable to close out the series after Franz Wagner suffered an injury, ultimately falling short for the third consecutive year in the opening round.
With the Magic on the brink of victory and breaking their first-round elimination streak last season, their motivation could come from remembering that small taste of victory and using it as fuel to advance further this season.
Full Court Magic host and Roundtable contributor Don Strouble recently discussed why the Magic could have a chip on their shoulder with RJ Saunders of 1010XL Magic. Here’s what he had to say:
On using the Game 6 playoff collapse against Detroit as motivation:
“In concrete terms, that's all it can be: a source of motivation. We're talking about one of the great collapses in NBA history. It was absolutely egregious what that second half of Game 6 turned into—I believe they only scored 17 points, missed 23 or 24 shots in a row, and went 45 minutes of real time without hitting a shot. It was just an absolute epic collapse, and at the end of that series, we saw great games from Paolo Banchero in Games 5 and 7—that was the type of superstar he could be—but it wasn't enough.
He was very candid in that Game 7 postgame session after they were eliminated, basically talking about how 'we're not good enough right now.' In his offseason media appearances, like with Stephen A. Smith a couple months ago, he talked about the work he's putting into his body, trying to become more durable so he can be there for his team. But he also talked about not getting complacent, and how when he first made the playoffs as a young player, he was just thankful to be there.
This team has passed that point. Three years in a row, they have shown that they can be a postseason participant, but that is all they have been—they have been knocked out all three times in the first round. This is a franchise that has not won a playoff series since 2010. So this fan base is hungry, and this team is hungry because they do have the pieces, and Paolo can be the guy.
This team together, when it's at its best, we saw what it can do: it can push around the number one seed in the East. Things are going to have to play in their favor, health first and foremost. But more than that, I hope that Game 6 has fueled all of these guys to push it a little harder in workouts, do the things that maybe they don't want to do, and cut that vacation short—whatever it has to be to make sure that they can reach the heights that they want to. I hope that the sting and the pain from that game served as motivation to be as committed as possible.”
