The Magic's One Shining Moment That Saved The Season

Sometimes you just need a little reminder of who you are and what you've been through.

Facing elimination against a Hornets team that's been lighting up the league since the New Year, the Magic's season was staring death in the face.

Orlando Magic Head Coach Jamahl Mosley knew his team needed a jolt of energy, a different form of motivation to remind every individual player on the team what they are capable of doing.

That's when Coach Mosley decided to scrap the usual film room session before the team's last stand, in favor of having the team watch a different type of game tape.

Before the Orlando Magic play-in tournament elimination game Jamahl Mosley played a highlight reel of his players NCAA Tournament games instead of film breaking down the Hornets, per @NotoriousOHM

He wanted to remind his players who they are

(h/t @TheNBABase) pic.twitter.com/7vXC3ibgJH
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) April 22, 2026

Magic find inspiration from team's March Madness highlight tape

Mosley points — Apr 12, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley reacts during the first half against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images | Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images

According to ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk, before the biggest game of this iteration of the Orlando Magic, Coach Mosley decided to forgo the usual pregame film session in favor of a 3-minute highlight reel of each player's March Madness moments.

This highlight tape featured Paolo and Wendell at Duke, Franz and Moritz at Michigan, Tristan at Colorado, Jonathan Isaac at Florida State, and of course, Jalen Suggs game-winning buzzer-beating table-climbing sideline-celebration Final Four moment at Gonzaga.

Then, the tape ended with some highlights of assistant Magic coaches in their college-playing days, God Shammgod at Providence and Lionel Chalmers at Xavier; this tape got the whole team going.

The one that got me going was they showed Lionel.

It was grainy, but the move he did, he came down in transition, went real fast, then slow, hesi pullup for 3...

It was just a clean-ass shot. I was like, damn. That got [everybody] going.

(the point Coach Mosley was making) was just telling everybody that we have all been in this situation before, whether in the pros, college, where it is do-or-die, win-or-go home type of game.

And we all performed in that moment.
Paolo Banchero

Almost like a scene out of a sports movie ala The Longest Yard, switching up the pregame film room experience lightened the mood of the team and rallied the group as a whole.

The video highlighting players and coaches during one their most dominant playing moments reminded everyone of who they are and what they've been through on their basketball journey, which may have re-energized a defense that hadn't looked that frenetic in basically a year if not two.

Seeing a version of yourself literally playing your best ball helps you repeat those patterns in future outing, underlining the idea of proprioception in basketball being to visualize your physical movements in a space before you execute them.

When you remember you've shown up and shown out in the bright lights before, you realize you already have experience to lean on; preparation makes opportunity look a lot like luck.

We asked for the tape – and the Magic's Twitter account delivered; Here is the behind-the-scenes footage of the Magic's one shining moment that saved the season:

"We've been there before, gentlemen." 😤 https://t.co/G4nhli1X0t pic.twitter.com/3xubvGMSfv
— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) April 22, 2026

The Magic rallied for one game to 'upset' the Hornets at home to survive and advance; then, they carried that energy over into beating Detroit in Game 1 of a playoff series.

Not only is Orlando playing its best basketball at the best time of the year with their backs against the wall, they're doing something they had forgotten most of the season – how to sustain winning habits.

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