When the Orlando Magic get to the fourth quarter, it is widely safe to assume they have a good chance to win.
The Magic have the best net rating in the fourth quarter in the league. They are the only team holding opponents to less than a point per possession in the fourth quarter for the season. Orlando has an 11-7 record in clutch situations.
Even this team had to be impressed with the comeback and fourth quarter they pulled off Sunday night. Then again, no one should be surprised by anything this team does anymore.
Down to eight healthy players with Franz Wagner, Moe Wagner, Jalen Suggs, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Jett Howard out before the game and Tristan Da Silva (illness) and Goga Bitadze (right hip contusion) leaving in the first half – and Paolo Banchero playing under a minute restriction in his second game back from his torn right oblique – the Magic rallied from seven down in the fourth quarter.
They had the will to win to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 104-99, beating the Sixers to loose balls and making the plays down the stretch to win. That is a critical difference between these two injury-plagued teams. Orlando wanted the win more, as cliché as that might sound.
The Magic have that extra bit to win.
“I really feel like if you look grit, toughness and determination in the dictionary, we’re going to be there,” Jonathan Isaac said. “We just put it together. There were times in the game when we went down. Every time they made a shot, we didn’t lose belief that we could win this game. And we went out and we did it.”
Isaac was one of the players who made those critical plays. He grabbed five offensive rebounds on his way to a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double, his first since Dec. 2019. Isaac had several putback dunks and stole an offensive rebound, drawing a foul, to give the Magic the lead for good at the foul line.
It was not just him. Anthony Black was aggressive getting downhill taking a career-high 18 field goals on his way to 17 points. Cole Anthony led the charge in the first half scoring 20 of his 27 points to lift the team.
But the team’s success was seen in little plays.
Plays like Trevelin Queen lifting for a big putback dunk that energized the Kia Center. Or the dunk he had off a pass from Isaac along the baseline.
Then there was Paolo Banchero, of course. After Queen dug out an offensive rebound with the Magic up one, the Magic reset for Banchero on the wing. He calmly nailed an elbow jumper to give the Magic a three-point lead with about 30 seconds to play.
Orlando then clinched the game with a five-second inbounds violation.
That is simply will.
“That was probably one of the most impressive ones that we’ve had,” coach Jamahl Mosley said. “I just told them in the locker room, it’s grit. It’s all about the grit. We’re just relentless. No matter what’s happening in the game, continue to play, continue to fight. Each person stepped up in the right way.”
The Magic have displayed this grit plenty through the first half of their season. They have had to with all the injuries they have faced. The belief they will win is embedded deep within this team.
It is still on full display and something they can count on. It has helped them make fantastic wins like Sunday’s seem regular. Orlando has that innate desire to win and the ability to execute it.
