How the Magic Blew a Chance at an Opening-Night Win

The Orlando Magic had Opening Night, which doubled as their home opener, spoiled by the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday, as the latter beat them, 132-125. 

Orlando's offense was highly productive, as Paolo Banchero led the way with 35 points, and four of the five starters who touched the floor finished in double figures, but it was not enough to get the win. 

Following the loss, the Magic are now preparing to host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday. On the latest episode of the Full Court Magic Podcast, I recapped Orlando's defeat and talked about the challenging matchup ahead. Below is some of what I had to say.:

"So, the Magic lost to the Atlanta Hawks on opening night at home, 132-125. The Hawks are now 5-0 against the Magic in their last five regular-season meetings, and certainly have their number. But despite the loss, there were some good things to take away from this game.

First and foremost, how about the performance from Paolo Banchero, truly tapping into his star power on Wednesday night, dropping a game-high 35 points while shooting 10 of 12 from the field and three of four from 3-point range. He also dished out 10 assists, you know, showing that he can get his teammates involved. He is the first player in NBA history to have 35-plus points and 10-plus assists while shooting 80-plus percent from the floor in a season opener and nearly had the triple-double with the seven rebounds.

So, just the type of performance you want to see from the face of your franchise, the type of performance you want to see from your number one guy. And Paolo Banchero did not disappoint; he showed up ready to play, and so did his teammates.

I mean, this was a high-scoring game. You know, you're not really used to these 120-plus games coming from at least the Magic of old and the offense that we were used to seeing. This was a team that hung its hat on the defensive end.

Everything was predicated on defense in the Jamahl Mosley coaching era. But this team showed last night that it can score, but it also needed to get stops. And that did not happen. The Hawks got plenty of contributions of their own. Nickeil Alexander-Walker was the high man on their team with 31 points; he really torched the Magic from the three-point line, went five of eight from the perimeter, 10 of 13 from the free-throw line, and was efficient himself. And then Jalen Johnson with a 20-point, 14-rebound double-double. That's going to make things difficult."