The Orlando Magic’s uneven 2025–26 season took another step backward Thursday night with a lopsided 124-97 loss at home to the Charlotte Hornets, prompting star forward Paolo Banchero to issue a pointed message about familiar problems resurfacing — and a defensive identity beginning to erode.
Banchero finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, five assists and a steal while shooting 6-for-12 from the field, 2-for-4 from three-point range and 9-for-12 from the free throw line in 30 minutes. The performance did little to change the outcome, as Orlando fell behind early and never recovered.
Speaking after the game, Banchero emphasized that the team’s struggles feel less like a temporary slump and more like a recurring pattern.
“I think it’s really similar to the past couple of seasons if you really look at it and you know, last year wasn’t a great season. We had tough times, a lot of bad losses last year. The year before when we won 47 games, probably our best year, but I think it’s something that has occurred over and over again the last few seasons so I just think we gotta figure a way to put an end to it. If we want to be a contender or a team that’s going to play deep into the playoffs, we gotta go out there and be different. We can’t just stay the same and right now feels like we have the same issues as the past and now our defense is slipping which makes it look worse. Like you said, our defense covered a lot of that in the past and now that’s slipping. Those problems start to be magnified when you can’t win on your defense and I think that’s something we gotta figure out.”
Listen to Paolo Banchero after tonight's blowout loss.
Pretty damning stuff. pic.twitter.com/n9dShnT37h
— Alex Walker (@AlexWalkerTV) January 23, 2026
Paolo Banchero cites lack of alignment amid Magic inconsistencies
Offensively, Orlando has shown incremental improvement compared to recent seasons, but the production remains below league average. The Magic rank 19th in scoring at 115.7 points per game after finishing 24th in 2023–24 and 28th the year prior. Perimeter shooting continues to be a lingering issue, with Orlando ranking 28th in three-point percentage at 34 percent — a problem that has persisted near the bottom of the league for three consecutive seasons.
Defense, however, has long been Orlando’s stabilizing force. That reliability has begun to fade. The Magic rank 13th this season, allowing 115.4 points per game. Two years ago, during a 47-win campaign, they finished fourth defensively by holding opponents to 108.4 points per contest. Last season, despite a 41-41 record, Orlando posted the NBA’s top defensive rating at 105.5 points allowed per game — edging even the Oklahoma City Thunder, who went on to win the championship.
Banchero said alignment across the organization has not been consistent enough to prevent those slippages.
“It’s on everybody. It’s on me.” Banchero said.” It’s on everyone on the team. Coaches. We’ve got to be on the same page. It sucks that I'm saying that in January but that’s the reality. I don’t think we’ve been on the same page much this year. I just think it’s showing up with the way we’ve played, showing up with the inconsistencies throughout the season, and it’s frustrating. Guys in the locker room, we want to win. But [as] I said, you can’t just say you want to win without doing anything to make it happen.”
Hornets’ opening-quarter burst exposes Magic’s defensive focus
Head coach Jamahl Mosley pointed to a lack of defensive urgency early as a defining factor in the loss. Charlotte scored 35 points in the opening quarter after playing the night before.
“It is a little shocking. You’ve got to give the Hornets a ton of credit the way they came out and played. They played last night. They got beat.” Mosley said. “They responded with a sense of urgency the way they came out [scoring] 35 in that first quarter. Shots didn’t fall and we let it impact our defense.”
Mosley was direct when asked how the Magic can regain their defensive edge.
“You sit down and guard. You sit down and guard the damn basketball. That’s what you do. You take it personally when guys blow by you. You take it personally when your teammates get scored on, when you get scored on and guys are getting easy baskets. And they hit some tough ones early that are a little deflating, but then when you do miss, you go box out, hit somebody and get a damn rebound. That’s what you do.”
I asked #Magic coach Jamahl Mosley if it’s surprising to him that Orlando’s defense still continues to struggle and how it recaptures that:
“It is a little shocking,” Mosley said.
He later added: “You sit down and guard the damn basketball. That’s what you do.”
Full remarks: pic.twitter.com/1sbH95M57h
— Jason Beede (@therealBeede) January 23, 2026
Veteran big man Moritz Wagner echoed the urgency after scoring 14 points off the bench in 15 minutes, shooting 5-for-7 from the field and 2-for-3 from beyond the arc.
“I think we’re deep in the mud. I don’t think we’ve struggled this much in the time as much as we do right now in my stint here. And we’re all looking for answers. But it’s also part of the profession that it’s not always going to go our way. And you’ve kind of got to start looking left and right, and figure it out together. And we will start doing that.”
For Orlando, the challenge now is preventing familiar issues from defining the season after falling to 23-20, with Saturday’s matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers (25-20) looming.
