Magic Inexperience Shows in Loss vs. Knicks
ORLANDO - In a potential playoff preview on Friday night, the Orlando Magic got lost in the bright lights in a 98-74 loss to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Going into the game, the Magic were fourth in the Eastern Conference while the Knicks were a 0.5 game behind in fifth place. Now, after Friday's result, the two teams have flip-flopped positions and the Magic have a better sense of where they are at this point in the season. Luckily for them, Friday's game wasn't a postseason one.
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"Playoffs, we haven’t been there. I haven’t been there. Coach said that’s what a playoff game is like so we gotta look at this game and adjust,” Paolo Banchero said postgame.
Joe Ingles is the only player on the roster who has seen a playoff game since after the bubble, the last time the Magic advanced to the postseason. Gary Harris, Markelle Fultz and Jonathan Isaac have also been to the playoffs, but not since 2020.
For the core of the team, Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs and Wendell Carter Jr., the playoffs are foreign ... and that could be Orlando's weakness going into the postseason. However, the Magic got a taste of it on Friday night, and they will do whatever they can to ensure they don't have that feeling once again come April and May.
The Magic are back in action tomorrow night against the Indiana Pacers at home. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET.
