Orlando’s magic looks to be likely to make a play-in tournament appearance, so every role player must play the best basketball.
After boasting one of the best defensives in the entire NBA last season and making the playoffs behind the stellar plays from Paolo Banchelo and Franz Wagner, the Orlando Magic was expected to take the next step in the Eastern Conference this season and become a legitimate candidate.
Instead, injuries to their best players keep them out of playoff photos and as the seventh seed, they’re building momentum by the end of the season, but they need to get out of the play-in tournament.
On March 24th, the Magic defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 118-106. Both Banchero and Wagner cracked 30 points and they misused the lack of interior presence. On the defensive side, they held the Lakers at 31.3% shooting from deep.
One key player stood out with magic and he was able to set the tone for his postseason run.
Sophomore Anthony Black scored 17 points, five rebounds and six assists from the bench in his victory over the Lakers. He made three solid three of his shots from behind the arc, but the most dangerous thing he was when he went downhill.
Black shot five-quarters in the restricted area and was thorny in all games on Jackson Hayes’ side. In the first round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Black may not be able to attack Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen the same way, but Al Horford and Christaps Porzingis could be easier targets if the magic plays against the Boston Celtics in the first round.
Although Black’s shooting has regressed from Deep to 32.1% this season, his scoring output and overall efficiency have made a significant leap.
This season he shot 60.5% on the rim, attacking at more volume than last season. His athleticism and speed allow him to go downhill and absorb contact, and once he bows his head and enters the lane, he becomes one of Orlando’s best bench players.
After beating the Lakers, Wagner outlined the impact Black had made in two seasons in Orlando and how he maintained enough standards to improve.
“He played great,” Wagner said. “He’s very offensive and I know he’s really hard to guard when he plays for it.”
In the East, he was able to continue to thrive in the postseason, as only the Celtics have enough backcourt depth to even consider the bench unit slowing down the black.
“I feel like I’m sitting down after a lot of these games and talking about him because he just needs to play like that,” Wagner finished. “He’s one of those people today whose mentality was just being in offensive mode, and I think he can feel it at times like that.
In the last five games, Magic won a statement against the Lakers and Cavaliers to make it 3-2, with Black apparently unlocking the next level of his game.