ORLANDO — While Desmond Bane, Paolo Banchero and Anthony Black’s 86 combined points were vital to the Orlando Magic’s 135-127 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday, another player made his impact felt: Rookie guard Jase Richardson. 

Richardson led the bench unit with 12 points and logged a team-high plus-14 rating. The 20-year-old has played in 25 games this season, and each appearance has been a building block for his confidence. 

“Yeah, I definitely think it's just confidence, honestly,” Richardson said after the win over Indiana. “I just kind of feel my confidence growing from each game, just learning something new. I'm not going to lie, I'm exhausted. It feels like game 66 already, but just maintaining my body, making sure I'mstaying as positive as I can; staying healthy.” 

Richardson’s poise and demeanor is something that has been evident to his teammates. 

“I told him stay ready, you know, and he works,” Bane said. “The thing that I learned about that kid from the first week is he ain't scared of the moment. I mean, open gym, I'm chirping at him, going at him, and he coming right back at me. So, I was like, okay, I like this kid.”  

“But I mean, we just joking; he was in the game in the fourth quarter, playing very meaningful minutes. So, it's big for him, big for his development, and we're going to need him; we're going to need to continue to lean on him. Plus 14 tonight, team high.” 

The Magic selected Richardson with the 25th pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, giving him the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of his father, Jason Richardson, who played in 109 games for Orlando from 2010-2012. So far, Richardson has been averaging 5.3 points in 11.1 minutes per game and has logged five double figure scoring efforts. 

“I thought he was big time,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said about Richardson’s performance on Sunday. “I thought he did a great job with his energy, his efforts, toughness, being able to push the play, the pace. I just really loved like he plays with a level of confidence and toughness about him, you know, throughout the entire night on both sides of the ball.” 

“Whether he's getting five minutes or 15, 20 minutes, he's just coming out there with a lot of energy,” Banchero added. “And yeah, I mean, he's just aggressive. We want him to be aggressive when he's out there and shoot the ball. And so, he just does a great job of coming in there and giving us a spark.” 

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