Vest - Franz Wagner The punch that Franz threw at CLE was powerful beyond comprehension. Because the Magic were DOWN by 9 at the beginning of it, the beginning of the 3rd. And that was when Franz turned the game off for CLE. Game over, an ORL win for a 2-2 Series tied.
Cummerbund - Jalen Suggs For the fact that Jalen is in our core 3, I live with like 3 of his TO's specifically and liked what ORL was trying to do. Look at the rest of his game today. All NBA team level of defense and energy. Motivates the team like crazy. 40 3P% and 2nd leading scorer among the starters.
Mittens - Jonathan Isaac Franz had such a game today that whatever energy and crowd-pumping motivation Mo Wagner was giving to us, it was going to Franz seven-fold. So I have no problem with Mo getting the Mittens too. But Isaac, man. Doesn't overthink it. "I'm open at the 3. Bet." Most 3's by any Magic player in this series, to go with 7 boards, 2 blocks, 1 steal and the second best boxscore +/- after superstar Franz Wagner. Also highly considered Paolo Banchero and Markelle Fultz.
Recap Thoughts -
Spoiler:
No doubt I was impressed a lot, but I had questions about why the Magic would, in the depths of their ugliest offensive basketball, fight so much for small 10 point losses in Games 1 and 2. Now I know why.
It's been this magic about them all year long. They had to endure bad stretches where it faded in and out during the year, but it also always comes back. What is it exactly? It's this grit, this willpower, to play at a literal 110% energy level instead of 90-100. To expend the energy in being a top 3 defensive team in the entire league. This composure to play like veterans already at 22 years old, ignore the scoreboard always, make the right plays often, and know what to do for the team to get scoring. To be a close-knit team that unselfishly motivates each other.
And now the shocking 47 win regular season and 2-2 series tied against CLE bears truth of the Magic's indomitable will. And a successful year at an early, first benchmark.
CLE looked a little more shell-shocked at Franz's superstardom outburst -- there's no other way to describe it -- in the beginning of the 3rd quarter than anything the Magic may have unlocked on a team versus team level. Jarrett Allen and Donovan Mitchell were still on pace for 32+ points at the beginning of the 3rd, Evan Mobley was on pace for 24 points. How do we adjust? I may not do starting lineup adjustments anymore, but I still vote for Goga to make a quick spot minutes check against CLE's twin towers. Caleb can try to steal 2-3 early minutes from Gary too. But it may be a moot point too. The Magic's offense is looking normal enough again. It looks like the cerebral Wendell may have adjusted to these CLE matchups better already too. And more importantly, the Magic looked willing at times to play 1 on 1 defense (especially in the painted area) all the way to the bitter end rather than rotate too much until they gave up open CLE 3's and drives. Perfect.
Other notes are also maybe minor. For instance, Garland is All Star caliber but not so much in the driving actions against our defense. Body him up closer at the 3 point line, instead of giving him the space to hit the two 3's he did at a 40% clip. Donovan is the one who is unguardable on paper and on court. Not sure why he got only 14 FGA's, so he could easily be the storm to weather in the next games. Slap our defensive guards on him and keep their fouls down. Live with him going 30-40+. Offensively, yes, I do want the Magic to slow down enough to do set plays and avoid some of the rushed TO's in their risky passing system, but I still vote for them to basically take the first open shots and finish the first feasible drives of the possessions. Our offense is not good enough to pass them up, and it takes a Paolo or a Franz going for 30+ with strong drives and mid-rangers to unlock the team offense. Paolo and Franz are the stars. So don't let their individual FGA possessions be too equally shared among the starters like CLE mistakenly did with Donovan today.
Franz JI Suggs- he had Garland ready to fight lmao, and Garland is usually a very chill guy
shout out to Fultz for playing well. WCJ for boxing out and playing very good defense. Paolo has also stepped up defensively this series, but especially the past two games.
V- ONLYFRANZ!!! - 34 pts, 13 rbs that's insane C- Mo Buckets - he got the crowd pumped and thus our team too M- Fultz he came out and scored, nothing pretty, nothing crazy, just scored when we needed it
Franz unleashed another level this game. He also went into beast mode after his brother’s early bravado and hyping up the crowd. Anyone who underestimates Mo’s value has also got to look at his positive influence on his brother at this point.
So many players helped in this one. From Suggs getting in the face of Garland to Mo blowing up to Fultz showing up to Isaac scoring a bunch including a hilarious bank three…too much awesomeness!
Franz Suggs Wendell - I almost want to give him 2nd place, because he was critical in the Magic taking the lead in the 3rd. Back to back 3’s, great defense on Mobley, helped get us an 8 point lead before he was subbed out with 3 minutes to go in the 3rd. Then Isaac and Suggs sealed the coffin.
V: Franz, not much to think about there. Awesome performance. C: JI, gamechanger off the bench. Every one of his threes felt huge. M: Fultz, gave us a lift when we really needed it. Also this might be the last opportunity to give him something in one of these threads, so I'm taking it. I strongly considered Suggs, but 7 turnovers is kind of yucky from a guy who doesn't have the ball in his hands that much. Markelle also got 2 offensive rebounds, which is nice from a guard.
