Inside the highlight reel that saved the Magic’s season

The video opens with Paolo Bancherothen a duke freshman, pump-faking, driving left baseline and blowing by a defender for a monster two-handed dunk towards North Carolina in the 2022 Final Four.

Last Friday morning, earlier than the Orlando Magic‘s greatest shootaround of the season at their staff facility, head coach Jamahl Mosley confirmed his gamers a video. He performed a three-minute highlight reel of a few of his gamers’ personal NCAA event magic from again in the day.

Each participant who had been in the event had two clips every in the video made by the staff’s video coordinator: Jonathan Isaac throwing down a dunk whereas at Florida State, Moritz Wagner hitting a 3 whereas being fouled for Michigan and Desmond Bane drilling a deep 3 for TCU. The highlight reel continued with Tristan da Silva at Colorado, Franz Wagner at Michigan, Wendell Carter Jr.. at Duke and others.

Finally, the greatest highlight for final: Jalen Suggs‘unforgettable buzzer-beater from 40 toes close to the half-court emblem to stun UCLA in the Final Four in 2021 for Gonzaga.

“Suggs for the win!” is the last item the Magic gamers hear of CBS’ Jim Nantz name proper earlier than the ball banks in.

The Magic had come off a bitter play-in loss to the Philadelphia 76ers final Wednesday in the matchup between the No. 7 and eight seeds. Making issues worse, journey points saved them from returning residence till 4 am

The gamers had been centered however exhausted. The video offered a welcome respite from the earlier two losses that had included a disheartening 113-108 loss to the Boston Celtics, who had rested their rotation gamers on the closing day of the common season. Orlando’s playoff hopes had been on the line in a couple of hours towards the Charlotte Hornetswho had been coming off an exciting extra time win over the Miami Heat.

“The Philly game was a terrible feeling,” Banchero advised ESPN. “For myself, the team, we felt like we let it go.

“But we realized the season ain’t over.”

For a team that was built to win now and expected to be a top-four team in the East after the offseason blockbuster trade for Banethe Magic carried the weight of not letting their season end in the play-in. It was a four-point game with 3:25 to go in Philadelphia before Orlando missed six of its last seven shots and was fouled. Another sinking loss would send the team into a summer of uncertainty with chatter already increasing around the league among some coaches and executives about Mosley’s future.

“I’d be mendacity if I mentioned that I did take heed to any of it,” Mosley told ESPN of the outside noise surrounding the Magic before they win over Charlotte. “I’ve mentioned this earlier than, simply wait per week and the narrative at all times modifications.”

Mosley had the video made to show his team that they’ve battled, thrived and even created unforgettable moments before. Since then, the Magic are doing what they can to produce their own “One Shining Moment” this postseason. The Magic turned their season around by destroying the Hornets 121-90 to clinch the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Orlando followed that up with a Game 1 112-101 stunner over the top-seeded Pistons in Detroit. The Magic hope to keep it rolling in Game 2 on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) by continuing to give Detroit a small taste of its own medicine.

After the Game 1 surprise in Detroit, Banchero shouted in the locker room, “Hey do not begin consuming the Kool-Aid!” But there is no denying that the Magic found something Friday in the win over the Hornets. What they’ve rediscovered is their blueprint for success — stifling defense with size and length, brute physicality and a swagger that gets under the skin of opponents.

“They got here out prepared from the soar,” mentioned Pistons All-Star middle Jalen Durenwho was restricted to eight factors and 7 rebounds. “We did not actually meet their depth. They’ve been taking part in with their backs towards the partitions, so that they had been already rolling.”

Along with the inspirational video, Mosley also showed his team bonus tournament highlights of assistant coaches such as God Shammgod at Providence and Lionel Chalmers at Xavier. The video not only set the tone, but it loosened up the players with their hearty laughs, especially over vintage footage of Chalmers dazzling in 2004.

“The one that bought me going was they confirmed Lionel,” an excited Banchero said. “It was grainy, however the transfer he did, he got here down in transition, went actual quick, then gradual, hesi pullup for 3… it was only a clean-ass shot. I used to be like rattling. That bought [everybody] going.”

Suggs said it was the perfect mood-setter for the Magic.

“It makes everybody really feel a bit higher,” Suggs told ESPN of the video. “You bear in mind the place you got here from. Mose is basically good at that, giving us reminders of who we’re, our full basketball journey, not simply whether or not or not it’s the frustrations or the heaviness of proper now.”

On Friday night, the Magic looked like a completely different team. Banchero knew things had shifted after Carter buried two early 3-pointers off Banchero assists and then the Magic star followed up with an 8-foot turnaround jumper and a 26-foot 3-pointer of his own. Sandwiched in between those shots were two demoralizing shot-clock violation turnovers by Charlotte before the Hornets called for a timeout down 27-10 with 3:43 to go in the first quarter.

“Our power was completely different,” Banchero said of that moment. “It felt like they weren’t actually ready for that degree of physicality. That trip, we had been similar to, ‘Look, what we’re doing proper now, we have to do that s— the complete sport. It must be this, each sport.’

“In Philly, we played decent. We played hard enough, but just not [with] as much swag as we should have, included myself on that.”

Banchero had 18 factors however shot 7-for-22 from the subject, together with 0-for-5 from 3, with six turnovers towards the Sixers. The 2022 No. 1 choose mentioned he refused to accept something towards Charlotte, believing a celebrity ought to play aggressively in a do-or-die state of affairs. Coming out and bullying the Hornets, Banchero had 25 factors, six assists and 5 rebounds whereas making 9 of 17 photographs.

And in Game 1 towards Detroit, Banchero scored all 23 of his factors in the first three quarters earlier than taking solely two photographs in the fourth however largely making the proper learn and letting Franz Wagner benefit from mismatches inside. Wagner scored 11 factors in the fourth.

“When Paolo plays like that, manipulates the game, that sets great players apart,” Wagner mentioned after Game 1. “He led us all game and when he’s playing like that, I think we’re tough to beat.”

The two video games had been completely different for Banchero, however the outcome was the similar. Banchero did what he needed to do to get the Magic the win.

Give Mosley, and the Magic’s video coordinator, an help with their Magic second video. They hope to maintain this run going. No matter what occurs in Game 2, the Magic return to Orlando with home-court benefit trying to create extra April insanity.

“It was just us remembering and realizing that our season’s on the line,” Banchero mentioned of the video. “Coach’s point was just telling everyone that we’ve all been in this situation before, whether in the pros, college, where it’s do-or-die, win-or-go home type of game. And we all performed at that moment.”