It hasn’t been a particularly good start to the 2022-23 season for the Orlando Magic, but the team has been looking up over the past two weeks. Orlando is 6-4 in their last ten games and is on a six game winning streak. Over the weekend, the Magic did the impossible to beat the Boston Celtics in back-to-back games. Magic rookie PF Paolo Bacnhero used former players’ trash talk as extra motivation for the team’s second game last night.
Paolo Banchero, the number one overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft, is leading the Magic in scoring (22.0 points per game) all season. He gets the most minutes per game (34.8) of any other player on the team. Orlando beat the Celtics 117-109 on Friday night, and NBC Boston’s commentator protested after the game, calling the Magic “garbage.” Little did he know that this would light a spark for the opposing team.
NBA betting sites have Magic (+40000) to win the Finals this season.
Paolo Banchero’s six game winning streak:
22.8 PTS
6.7 REB
4.2 AST
46.7% 3P (5.0 attempts per game) pic.twitter.com/n2gXngGJYb— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) December 19, 2022
The Orlando Magic beat the Boston Celtics in back-to-back games
A six-game winning streak ended this weekend with two straight wins for Orlando, if not the best team in the NBA. The Boston Celtics have now lost four of their five games and are in second place in the Eastern Conference. After Friday night’s 117-109 win, NBC Sports Boston analyst Eddie House, a former NBA player, said the Magic were “still not a good basketball team” despite their five-game winning streak on the season.
Magic players took that personally, especially Paolo Banchero. He said this after Friday night’s win over Boston.
“I’d be lying if I said we didn’t. He definitely just set fire to some guys and the team as a whole. Obviously a lot of people still don’t respect us so we have to come out with a game, lock it down, and eventually it will come in.
In Sunday’s 95-92 win over the Celtics, he mentioned how he motivated the team to stay on track and make a run. Both games were on the road to magic, but they stayed true to themselves and did what it took to win. Banchero had 31 points last night against Boston.
