“We knew they were gonna come out, you know. We’ve beat them three times so we knew that they wanted this one. We gotta be able to adjust in live action better. But yeah, they just caught us,” Paolo Banchero said after the Orlando Magic 98-74 loss against the New York Knicks on Friday night at Madison Square Garden, per Orlando Sports Magic beat writer Jason Beede.
Knicks Defense
New York came in with a score to settle after losing their first three matchups against Orlando holding the Magic to the lowest total scored by any NBA team this season
Tom Thibodeau's defense-oriented Knicks limited the Magic to a mere 74 points, surpassing the previous season-low mark by three points (77), previously set by the Portland Trail Blazers in a January 11 matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Riding a five-game winning streak, the Magic surprisingly trailed the entire game against the Knicks.
“This is exactly what the playoffs will be like,” Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley said.
Despite being questionable with a left knee contusion, Jalen Brunson led New York's offense with a game-high 26 points. Josh Hart contributed 19 points, while Precious Achiuwa recorded a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
The Knicks and Magic collectively scored only 172 points, falling significantly below the betting under mark for the game.
Paolo Banchero led the way for Orlando with 23 points and 9 rebounds but the Magic as a team shot just 34.2 percent from the field and 23.1 percent from 3-point range.
Franz Wagner contributed 13 points, while Jonathan Isaac added 11 points for the Magic. However, Orlando's total of 74 points and 12 assists marked season lows for the team.
The Knicks displayed impressive shooting accuracy, connecting on 8 of their initial 9 three-point attempts, which differed from their typical shooting performance where they frequently face challenges from long range.
Weighing in on a potential playoff matchup against the Knicks Banchero noted, “It’s going to be interesting to see how that all shakes out. Fourth through eighth is such a tight race, so you don’t know how it is going to shake out these last (19) games. But it’s definitely a possibility of us playing them. Playing in a playoff series here would be awesome.”
“We’ve got to realize that the playoffs [are] going to be a lot more physical, going to be a lot higher intensity and we’ve got to be ready for it,” added the Magic forward.
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