What the Magic Said After Beating the Hawks, 119-112

After a 119-112 win over the Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley, forward Paolo Banchero and guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope met reporters to discuss the result.

Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley looks on during the second quarter against the Atlanta Hawks at Kia Center. | Mike Watters-Imagn Images

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Orlando Magic earned a crucial victory over the Atlanta Hawks Tuesday night, reducing their magic number to clinch the No. 7 seed to one game with a 119-112 result.

Recap: Banchero, defense help Magic to crucial late-season victory over Hawks

After the game, Magic coach Jamahl Mosley, forward Paolo Banchero and guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope met reporters to discuss the result.

Here's what they had to say.

Jamahl Mosley

On what he liked most from their performance in a high stakes game...

“I really think they did a great job of staying the course. The moments in which Atlanta made their runs, you know, they didn’t panic, [we] got into our sets, organized ourselves in some ways and then working on sitting down and getting stops at the right time. Those were big.”

On what he liked most from Wendell Carter Jr.’s performance tonight...

“His presence. I think there’s not a stat on here that says what his presence was on that floor. When he plays with that level of dominance and aggression and focus and selflessness, he brings our whole team to a different level, and I thought that was great by him tonight. He did all those little things. Yes, there was the blocked shots, there was the verticality, there was a couple jump balls, his ability to sit down and guard on a switch. Those are the things that we continue to need from him, and he did it without batting an eye. That’s exactly what’s needed down this stretch, guys being able to step into the role and whatever’s asked of you in any moment and dominating it.”

On the team’s resilience to extend their lead in the fourth quarter despite Atlanta cutting it to six...

“Well, just being able to focus on that moment and that moment alone. Not what happened prior to it, how they got it, but being able to settle ourselves down, get the stops, try to get some of the looks that we wanted. But then again, it got back to getting the stops at the right time to be able to get out and run with that level of focus, and we have to keep that moving forward.”

On his message to the team after an important win...

“You know, enjoy it right now, because you took care of business. You have to do it again tomorrow, that’s what’s important. Take care of home court, then you challenge them to be better. You challenge them to be better, because you don’t go 21-31 from the free throw line, shooting 67% and hope to give yourself a chance. You don’t give up 31 second chance points and hope to give yourself a chance. Now you get away with it tonight, but in the long haul you have to be better and that’s what we challenge these guys to do. Be better in these moments. Yes, it’s a good win because of what’s at stake, but that ability to be better in these moments is what we have to do.”

On how the team replicates the performance from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope...

“I really just think it’s just finding the right open spots, defending the right way, continuing to look for him on the break. Those little consistent efforts are going to be very important as we move forward.”

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

On tonight’s win and how pleased he was with the team’s performance...

“Yeah, this was a big win but each game that’s left for us is going to be a big game for us to continue to move in the right direction. But tonight, we came up with the intensity that it’s a playoff game for us and we wanted to treat it [as] such. I think we did a great job of just coming out with great energy, defending, and scoring the ball as well.”

On what he has seen playing alongside Paolo Banchero...

“For me, just his [maturity] and his mentality as far as just seeing the defense, seeing when they come in to double for him, and then just making the play out of that. I think he’s been doing a great job at that as far as like, all season, but tonight he showed it. After the All-Star break, just showing that he’s really getting into film, trying to figure it out, and that’s going to be great for us.”

Paolo Banchero

On tonight’s win and how pleased he was with the team’s performance...

“Yeah, it was a good win. It helped us out in the standings, and so we approached it like a playoff type of game. And [I] just thought we played a good, full 48 minutes of basketball.”

On Wendell Carter Jr.’s performance tonight...

“He was a force tonight, just on the glass, on both sides of the ball. He was huge for us. He [gave] us extra opportunities on offense and helping out [to] close out possessions on defense.”

On the team’s ability to depend on their defensive identity late in the game...

“I mean, yeah, that’s what it’s going to take to win these types of games, is being able to put teams away with our defense and getting stops. They didn’t go away but, you know, we made enough plays to get the dub tonight.”

Up Next

The Magic close their home regular-season slate vs. the Boston Celtics on Wednesday, April 9 at 7 p.m. ET, for the second night of a back-to-back.

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