Paolo Banchero drops 29 points in Magic win

By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net

With only four games last night in the NBA, there were not many Euro players on the court, and all the attention was focused on the Italian rookie Paolo Banchero.

He capped a 29-point performance with three clutch mid-range jumpers in the closing minutes, and the Orlando Magic defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 101-93 on Monday night.

The first two of Banchero’s big shots broke ties before he hit another to make it 97-93.

“In those moments, you kind of just got to be able to go get a basket. I was confident I could do that,” Banchero said, adding that his teammates “trust me to make the right play.”

“I don’t take that for granted. I don’t take that lightly,” Banchero continued. “We’re close as a group and I think on the court it shows in moments like that.”

It was the 30th game in which Banchero scored at least 20 points. That moved him one game ahead of Penny Hardaway for the second-most such games by a Magic rookie. Shaquille O’Neal set the franchise mark with 60 in the 1992-93 season.

“Tonight he did a great job of staying aggressive, getting to the free-throw line … getting to his spots, and knocking them down with confidence,” Magic guard Markelle Fultz said. “When he’s playing like that it helps our team go. Everybody’s super excited for him.”

The Germans Moritz Wagner scored 14 points and Franz Wagner added 11 points. On the other side, Lithuanian big man Jonas Valanciunas had eight points and five rebounds.

NBA Roundup

Charlotte Hornets–Detroit Pistons 117-106 (Hayes 12p)

Philadelphia 76ers – Miami Heat 99-101

New York Knicks– Boston Celtics 109-94

New Orleans Pelicans – Orlando Magic 93-101 (Banchero 29p, 8r, M. Wagner 14p, F. Wagner 11p – Valanciunas 8p, 5r)

2022-23 STANDINGS

EAST

TEAM	W	L	LAST 10
1 BOSTON	44	18	8-2
2 MILWAUKEE	43	17	10-0
3 PHILADELPHIA	39	21	7-3
4 CLEVELAND	39	25	7-3
5 BROOKLYN	34	26	3-7
6 NEW YORK	36	27	8-2
7 MIAMI	33	29	4-6
8 ATLANTA	31	30	6-4
9 TORONTO	30	32	7-3
10 WASHINGTON	28	32	4-6
11 CHICAGO	28	33	4-6
12 INDIANA	27	35	3-7
13 ORLANDO	26	36	5-5
14 CHARLOTTE	20	43	4-6
15 DETROIT	15	47	2-8

WEST

TEAM	W	L	LAST 10
1 DENVER	43	19	7-3
2 MEMPHIS	36	23	5-5
3 SACRAMENTO	35	25	6-4
4 PHOENIX	33	29	6-4
5 LA CLIPPERS	33	30	5-5
6 DALLAS	32	30	5-5
7 GOLDEN STATE	31	30	5-5
8 UTAH	31	31	5-5
9 MINNESOTA	31	32	4-6
10 NEW ORLEANS	30	32	4-6
11 PORTLAND	29	31	5-5
12 LA LAKERS	29	32	6-4
13 OKLAHOMA	28	32	4-6
14 SAN ANTONIO	14	47	0-10
15 HOUSTON	13	47	1-9

-Top six teams of each conference advance directly to the Playoffs
-Teams seeded 7th to 10th will compete in Play-In tournament