Knowing he’s only a rookie makes it even more insane. His defensive pressure is crazy for someone so young

He’s a rookie so sometimes he makes really dumb mistakes, the Banchero dunk late in the 4th was CMB miscommunicating with Shead on a switch. But god the potential is so high. He reminds me of Siakam as a rookie with the hustle and energy, sometimes outrunning his shoes. Defensively he is going to be a menace.

We just desperately need dogs. Scottie has it, RJ has it (though both of them do have a weird tendency to get in the dumps sometimes, but when it’s there it’s game-changing), Mamu has it, JaKobe has it, Jamal has it, CMB has it. 4 of those guys are only in their 2nd year on the team, and 2 their first.

If we can get a legit big with that factor it’ll change this team so much– but we’re kinda stuck under the albatrosses that are Jak and IQ’s massive multi-year contracts

He has a great feel for the game…

He’s our new Kyle Lowry

Pretty sure he will be extended

Come on, now. It’s not as if the Magic have a 6’10” freight train with one of the highest FTA averages in the NBA on the roster, who is almost unstoppable on drives because of his frame and quickness, like Waldo Habañero.

Tbf they kept getting blocked in the paint in the 4th by Barnes/Ingram/CMB lol

hard to drive the ball when someones if front of you blocking lol

you ever play basketball?

Fear of Scottie

Bro Banchero has done this multiple times, he is actually just afraid of driving it’s hilarious 

*This comment was an indictment of his final shot choice, not his general play. He just doesn’t drive for a layup for the final shot like ever. 

Seahawks fans twitching

Paolo has the lowest IQ of any #1 of all time

Raptor defense became absolutely insane. Completely shut them down. That said, if you’re a star you should go for it anyway.

Every one in the arena knew that Paolo was going to force a contested shot

I mean he was open lol

SCOTTIE BARNES STILL OWNS YOUR POVERTY FRANCHISE

bro Anthony Black is a demon where the fuck did this come from

I think this could be one of those “lost the battle, win the war” situations. Frustrating loss for Orlando in a winnable game against a team playing a B2B, but narrowly losing a road game despite injuries to Suggs, Wagner, and (apparently) Bane is not the worst outcome. I still think this Magic team has a high ceiling if they get everyone healthy and clicking. It just seems like they’re constantly missing 1-2 key guys for the last two seasons.

Realistically, fully capable of knocking off a Toronto, Detroit, Cleveland, or even NYK if they peak in the playoffs though.

I wasn’t familiar with AB - dude was cookin’.

choosing “tyus jones” as one of your closers im in genuine tears man

Blame coach for drawing up nothing

Not to mention trying to get that shot off on Scottie Barnes, damn. The guy is one of the best defenders in the NBA 😅

²³⁄₁₅ and 10 and he owns the loss.

its true though

That shot wasn’t exactly Paolo’s fault. Coach drew up the play. Gave Paolo the ball with no momentum at the top of the arc. Paolo played really good defense. Is what it is.

23, 15, 10 without 3 of the top 4 scorers but it’s Paolo’s fault.

not just the last possession. The Orlando offense went to shit when paolo went on iso mode. they had a 10 point lead and that entire comeback was just awesome defense + Paolo’s selfishness

Black is a stud. He might be the most athletic guard in the nba

Scottie for DPOY at this point. CMB was also amazing. just some free throw training

Over Barnes

Play was for Bane. Good D unfortunately

CMB has been killing everyone on the boards tbh

Yeah but we got her brother so the boost is negated

Imagine fouling out in front of your girl

He’s usually a little better around the rim than this too. Raps fans are pretty happy with the pick.

Scottie ofc, but Walter, Shead and CMB brought the grit we needed on D to pull this off. What a game

idk if that was the play drawn up, i don’t think it was tbh

raptors clamped absolutely everything in the 4th, and scottie shut down what looked like paolo’s initial drive attempt there

I think their play just got blown up and they had to settle for a 3.

Honestly going into the year my biggest worry was if this team could play good enough defense. Like yea they had some guys on the bench who can play on that side like Shead, CMB Ochai and Walter. But for the starting 5 it was really just Barnes combined with Jak being a solid defensive center but past that IQ, RJ and BI have never been known for anything above average defense Yet so far the defense has been probably the brightest aspect of the team. Usually when they lose it’s been because of the offense couldn’t get much going which seemed like it was gonna be the case tonight. Sure they played better in the 2nd half on offense but was still mainly the defense that sparked most of it.

BI had a nasty block too.

I’m so happy Ja’kobe is joining Shead in that second year leap.

He has a full contract, it just can still be waived before Jan 15(I think, don’t know the specific date) before it becomes fully guaranteed. 

Winds were in the favour

Might be our best game of the season. Had no energy to start, but they didn’t give up and played hard to get back into it, and squeeked out a win. 

Gutsy*

Magic really blew it

The exact type of shot the Raps would want out of a time out, they did the same when they called time with 6 seconds left in the middle of the fourth and same exact result.

Our coach isn’t exactly known for being an offensive genius.

Which, you know, is why we brought in Prunty and it still doesn’t seem to have solved anything.

This man is a fraud

It’s definitely been a pleasant surprise, considering how young it is, and starters missing time was what I thought was going to be the downfall of this team.

That’s what we thought coming into this season. If we’re being honest though, the bench still hasn’t really found their footing. That performance from the bench collectively was a bit of an outlier.

Shead and Mamu have been the most consistent and Walter is starting to hit his stride now though.

Exact type of player I wish we had only thing we need more is a good big man

After the last few years I’ll take a 2nd round exit this year. Rather go further, but we really can’t complain about that outcome if it happens!

I’ll take a second round exit

can’t wait to happily lose in the 2nd round

First full year with the whole team, we take a 2nd round especially since the team is still so young.

he was injured

Bane had back spasms

Look like he hurt his back, he had heat on it before coming back in and tweeking it on a missed layup before they subbed him back out. 

Apparently hes hurt, idk tho

I’m not saying he should be benched, but Bane hurt you guys a lot today with the way he ran the point of attack. And it’s not like he shot the ball particularly well either.

and 18 steals

no, we are a fraud conference

Nope, we’re all frauds

The Magic are a very good team so long as Paolo isn’t playing

Rich coming from a suns fan

No, next question

The Knicks aren’t frauds

These things go back and forth like basketball

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

lol i forgot about that, thats pretty funny

Dick was huge today. 15 pts on 7 shots.

This is a line in the sand with IQ.

Wonder if they trade him

Lol, haven’t we learned our lesson after the first huge win streak? Let’s just take the season as it comes 

He played 24 hours ago that went to OT tbf

He did but they removed 2

A player like AD would be such an amazing fit and raise the ceiling considerably but I don’t think the Raptors are at a position where they are looking for the final piece. They still have a lot of young players with no major playoff experience. I don’t think it would be good trade at this time. Also, I don’t think Mavs are just looking to offload him, they are going to be demand a high price. Not worth it.

he was injured

Back spasms

You might want to be more specific there, lol

Defence with a c