With only seven games left in the regular season, Orlando Magic veteran guard Desmond Bane is heading into the playoffs with the utmost confidence in his team. The Magic bounced back from a blowout loss to the Toronto Raptors, where Bane dismissed head coach Jamahl Mosley blaming himself for not preparing his team.
Bane says the Magic understood the magnitude of Sunday's matchup against the Raptors, but were outplayed. He also believes the Magic will be a difficult opponent amid a best-of-7 series in the opening round of the playoffs, Bane said, per NBA TV's Chris Haynes.
“The sky is the limit,” Bane said. “We've played everybody and played everybody close. So, I don't think that we're worried. Whoever we get, we feel confident that we can go in there and make some noise.”
The Magic returned to the win column with a 115-111 win against the Phoenix Suns. They improved to 40-35 with a half-game lead over the Miami Heat for eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings.
Jamahl Mosley sounds off on Magic's blowout loss to Raptors
Magic guard Desmond Bane responded to head coach Jamahl Mosley, who took the responsibility for a 52-point loss to the Raptors. Mosley says he needs to do a better job of preparing his team, per the Orlando Sentinel's Jason Beede.
“I’ve got to do a better job of preparing them for what they were going to see tonight,” Mosley said. “We talked a little bit about it, but probably not enough — I’ve got to have them prepared for the physicality of the game, prepared for how much they were going to grab, hold and get us off of our spots.
“That’s on me. I’ve got to do a better job there with this group to make sure they’re prepared in the right way, knowing exactly the sense of urgency that Toronto was going to play with … knowing the positioning that they were in for playoff positioning.”
The Magic will host the Hawks on Wednesday.
