ORLANDO – The Orlando Magic are back in their comfort zone: dominating in the paint and capitalizing on turnovers. After an uncharacteristic start to the season where they slipped to the bottom third of the league in both areas, Friday’s commanding 115-88 win over the New Orleans Pelicans at Kia Center signaled a return to form.
Just three days after a paint-heavy performance against the Indiana Pacers, the Magic doubled down on their interior dominance with 74 points in the paint and 20 off turnovers against New Orleans. It’s a remarkable turnaround, especially for a team that built its identity around scoring in close and pouncing on opponents’ mistakes. The numbers reinforce that Orlando’s aggressive, paint-first style is no fleeting phase, but rather their DNA.
“That’s what we’ve been doing these last four years, trying to score in the paint,” said forward Moe Wagner. “It’s our DNA, and then make the right play in the paint when you are guarded by multiple people. That’s not going to change.”
And change it hasn’t. Orlando’s performance on Friday was an emphatic reminder of how devastating they can be when operating at full throttle around the rim. Franz Wagner led the charge, finishing with a game-high 27 points, including a handful of assertive drives and finishes through traffic. His hot hand came early, as he poured in 17 points in the first quarter alone, setting a tone that the Magic would sustain all night.
Orlando’s bench, too, proved instrumental, outscoring New Orleans’ reserves 56-18. Moe Wagner contributed 17 points, while Goga Bitadze and rookie guard Anthony Black each chipped in with 11. Despite missing key players like Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter Jr., the Magic looked cohesive and confident.
In contrast, the Pelicans struggled to find their rhythm without their own core stars, including Zion Williamson and CJ McCollum. Brandon Boston Jr. tried to keep New Orleans in contention with a team-high 26 points, but he and the rest of the Pelicans had a hard time cracking Orlando’s defense. The Magic held New Orleans to a low 38.1 percent shooting from the field and just 32.3 percent from beyond the arc, a testament to the suffocating, switchable defense Orlando has prioritized under coach Jamahl Mosley.
“That’s what our identity is as a team,” rookie Anthony Black noted. “When all else is failing, we just try to click back into locking up and creating offense through our defense.”
For a team eager to turn the corner and contend, Friday’s win brought encouraging signs that their formula for success is, once again, firmly in place. Next up, Orlando looks to extend its undefeated home record to 4-0 as they host the Washington Wizards on Sunday, seeking to maintain their defensive intensity and paint dominance.
