The Athletic: Orlando Magic have something to prove heading into SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament

Paolo Banchero and the Magic host the Hawks on Tuesday within the SoFi Play-In Event. Winner will get to face the Celtics within the Playoffs.

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Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley has labored for 20 years within the NBA, and in all that point, he’s by no means skilled a season fairly just like the one which Magic gamers, coaches and employees members simply endured.

Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs all suffered important accidents in the course of the season, limiting them to solely six video games collectively for a not-so-grand whole of 97 minutes earlier than Suggs sustained yet one more damage, a season-ending cartilage tear that required surgical procedure. Moe Wagner, who had emerged as a possible Sixth Man of the 12 months candidate, tore a knee ligament in mid-December, ending his season prematurely, too.

“A very strange season,” Mosley stated. “I feel that’s one of the simplest ways to explain it. The accidents to begin off the yr modified the way in which through which you strategy issues, the way in which through which it’s a must to dissect issues. In the end, the one method I can describe it’s it appears like seven seasons in a single.

“And why I say that is because you have Paolo going down; you have to adjust there. Franz going down; you have to adjust there. Jalen going down; you adjust there. Moe going down; adjust there. And then the unknown of when guys are coming back, when they’re not coming back — all of those things played a part into how you have to address the team, approach the team, the day to day. I think those are all different aspects when you have guys in and out of lineups, especially such big pieces to what you’re doing.”

Now begins one other distinct a part of their yr.

On Tuesday evening, the Magic (41-41) will host the Atlanta Hawks (40-42) within the opening Japanese Convention Play-In sport. The successful workforce will face the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics within the first spherical. The shedding workforce may have one final probability to succeed in the playoffs, a sport Friday evening in opposition to the winner of the Play-In sport between the Chicago Bulls and Miami Warmth.

Magic gamers, after all, could be comfortable to advance to the primary spherical. However they anticipated extra from themselves this season than having to eke into the playoffs by means of the Play-In.

In any case, final yr, they secured the East’s fifth seed after a 47-win season and almost upset the Cleveland Cavaliers within the first spherical, pushing the Cavs to seven video games.

“Obviously, we were on an upwards trajectory, and I think this year was really the first year we had a little bit of pressure and maybe not everything went the way we thought it would before the year,” Wagner stated. “But I think that’s part of progress as well. So, obviously, injuries were a big part of our struggles this year and … I think the biggest thing is that we stuck together, and hopefully it can help us in the coming years.”

TRAE.
PAOLO.

East #7 is on the road because the Magic host the Hawks within the #SoFiPlayIn

Tuesday, 4/15 | 7:30pm/et | TNT pic.twitter.com/28LWoRS5lp

— NBA (@NBA) April 14, 2025

Extra adversity seemingly will hit as early as Tuesday’s Play-In sport. The Hawks have confirmed they will match up properly in opposition to the Magic this season. On Feb. 10, the Hawks received in Orlando, 112-106, regardless of 37 factors from Wagner and 31 extra from Banchero. Though the Magic received the subsequent two conferences between the groups, these have been shut matchups; final Wednesday, the Magic defeated the Hawks, 119-112, at Kia Middle, in a hard-fought, back-and-forth sport that featured seven lead adjustments and 7 ties.

The Magic’s Achilles’ heel this season (other than their accidents, that’s) has been their taking pictures, although it’s improved in current weeks. Orlando completed the common season twenty seventh in offensive ranking, final in 3-point share and final in 3-point makes.

In final week’s victory over the Hawks, the Magic made 14 of their 34 makes an attempt (41 p.c) from deep, an unusually excessive accuracy price for them.

However can they rely on their shot-making in a strain sport, the form of strain that Play-In video games and playoff video games create?

That’s the important query they face — and one that may stay unanswered till they really do it. In final yr’s playoff sequence loss to the Cavs, the Magic made solely 33 p.c of their 3-point makes an attempt because the Cavs opted to pack the paint and dare the Magic to beat them with long-range taking pictures.

Final offseason, the Magic signed free-agent wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to a three-year, $66 million contract, hoping that Caldwell-Pope would knock down open pictures and supply spacing that will assist create driving lanes for Banchero and Wagner.

Caldwell-Pope had been a disappointment on offense for a lot of the season, making solely 31 p.c of his 3s earlier than the All-Star break. For the reason that break, with a bit extra relaxation, he’s made 44 p.c of his makes an attempt on 3.5 makes an attempt per sport.

In final week’s win over Atlanta, Caldwell-Pope scored 15 factors on the energy of 3-of-6 taking pictures from past the arc. “When he’s knocking down shots, it opens everything up,” Banchero stated. “Everyone just tells him to keep letting it fly, but he doesn’t really need to hear that. He’s a two-time champ. He’s a vet. So, he doesn’t need really anybody giving him a pep talk. He knew all along that eventually the seal (over the basket) was going to break and his shots were going to start to fall.”

In fact, it could be unfair to pin Orlando’s offensive woes on Caldwell-Pope. The reality is, most of his teammates have struggled with their taking pictures, too.

That provides intrigue to Tuesday evening’s Play-In sport.

When Atlanta goes on a run, because it nearly certainly will with Trae Younger guiding the Hawks’ offense, can Orlando reply?

“A do-or-die game, basically,” Wagner stated. “I think those are always fun.”

Josh Robbins is a senior author for The Athletic. He started masking the Washington Wizards in 2021 after spending greater than a decade on the Orlando Magic beat for The Athletic and the Orlando Sentinel, the place he labored for 18 years. His work has been honored by the Soccer Writers Affiliation of America, the Inexperienced Eyeshade Awards and the Florida Society of Information Editors. He served as president of the Skilled Basketball Writers Affiliation from 2014 to 2023. Josh is a local of the better Washington, D.C., space. Observe Josh on Twitter @JoshuaBRobbins