The Orlando Magic Are Surging, In 4th Place After Winning 12 Of Last 15

There isn’t a lot of a contest for the #1 seed within the Japanese Convention given the dominance of the Boston Celtics this season. However the race for the remainder of the top-4 is heating up, and the Orlando Magic have entered the dialog after getting scorching over the previous few weeks.

Orlando Magic Now In 4th Place After Current Surge

Paolo Banchero is main a No. 4 seed Magic group whereas averaging 23/7/5 in his sophomore yr with ZERO nationwide media protection.

Give him his flowers 💐 pic.twitter.com/TOu4CLNBcK

— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) March 6, 2024

They bought off to probably the greatest and most stunning begins of any group within the NBA. Led by Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, the Magic began off with a document of 14-5 via their first 19 video games, and had been in second place within the East at first of December. However the group faltered via the vacations, and issues didn’t enhance a lot all through the month of January. Orlando would win simply 10 of its subsequent 28 video games, and located themselves with a 24-23 document and in seventh place on January thirtieth.

They’ve improved vastly since then. As of Wednesday morning, the Magic have shot all the best way as much as 4th place after successful 12 of their final 15, overtaking the Knicks within the standings after New York has faltered in latest weeks.

The success has been thanks largely to Banchero’s elevated mess around his first All-Star look. Rapidly changing into probably the most underappreciated younger stars within the league, the second-year participant out of Duke is averaging 23 factors, 6.8 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per sport. He has been sturdy as nicely, as he has performed in all however two contests to this point this season. Banchero is averaging almost 27 factors over the past three video games.

The Protection Has Been The Key All Season Lengthy

The Orlando Magic are 36-26.

They’ve received 12 of their final 15.

They’re the 4 seed within the East.

The early season play was not a fluke.

It was Magic basketball. pic.twitter.com/um1wXSs0JK

— PaoloMuse (@PaoloBMuse) March 6, 2024

However it has been the protection that has been probably the most essential ingredient to Orlando’s success this season. They offer up a mean of 109.5 factors per sport, the Third-lowest mark within the league, and rank first within the league in rebounds and assists given as much as their opponents. Impressively, they’ve held 3 of their final 4 opponents to below 100 factors, and the fourth scored 107. All 4 video games had been victories.

Can they stick with it? The Magic have been aided by one of many softer schedules these days, as they took on the Detroit Pistons 3 times throughout February, in addition to the Nets, Spurs, and Hornets. However issues received’t ramp up for a few weeks nonetheless, as there are video games towards the Wizards and Hornets on the horizon, in addition to two straight towards the Raptors.

Orlando is favored by 7.5 factors for tonight’s sport towards Washington.