Banchero demanded a fast start from the Magic, and he delivered in defeat

MIAMI, Fla. – Even with more than six minutes remaining in the Orlando Magic's season opener in Miami, the Kaseya Center was already half empty. A blowout of visitors leads to this.

That didn't stop Magic star Paolo Banchero from having a little fun. After stopping, banging and dropping a three-pointer to give the Magic a 32-point lead, Banchero waved goodbye to fans marching through the hallways. It was an emphatic gesture worthy of a 116-97 loss to your state rivals that wasn't even that close

It was also a lot of fun.

“Yeah, that was really fun,” Banchero said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game here and I know we haven't won a game here yet and a lot of guys haven't won here in our careers. We knew we had to play a damn good game and with a lot of energy. To put in that performance in the second half and the way we came away and turned defense into attack, that's kind of our calling card.

Banchero had one hell of a night. He scored 33 points and 11 rebounds in 31 minutes and also made four three-pointers. He also did it against Bam Adebayo, a man who was on several All-Star teams and won a few Olympic gold medals.

I'm not a big plus/minus guy, but Banchero was a plus-42. Adebayo was minus 30. This is complete dominance.

It's no surprise to Banchero's teammates either. Veteran Gary Harris — who had a heck of a night himself, scoring 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from three — has watched Banchero go from “good” to “very good” to “great” over his three years was selected No. 1 overall by Duke.

It's a damn good show.

“He’s a professional and that’s what he does,” Harris said. “He's getting better and better, especially as he gains more experience.” He's an incredible talent and we all know that. It's been fun watching him grow, and he's still growing. “There are no limits with him and we all enjoy supporting him.”

Banchero was an All-Star himself a year ago, and with the Magic reaching the postseason in 2024, he's starting to gain more of a national reputation. The Magic made a big jump from 34 to 47 wins a year ago, largely due to Banchero's extremely high skill level.

But in the NBA there are standards every night. Wednesday was one of the nights, against Adebayo. It's also the Miami Heat, on the road, in an electric building. For one, this was the home opener and it was a night to celebrate Pat Riley and everything he's done for the Heat over the last 30 years, including three NBA titles. In an elaborate – and very long – halftime ceremony, they named the dish after him.

The Magic led 58-54 at halftime. But they took full advantage of the extra 10 minutes at halftime and got into the game. They outscored the Heat 39-18 in the third quarter and extended the lead to 32 midway through the fourth quarter.

It was impressive. Sure, it's just a game, but that was a great start.

“We knew we would have more time to rest (at halftime) and we just tried to keep the energy up,” Banchero said. “We knew we had to start fast (in the third quarter), and that's exactly what we did.” It's fun when you can get one possession stop after another and they lead to runouts, threes and easy shots. I've never played on a team where that's actually possible. I don't know how many we had in a row, but it was ridiculous. It was also natural. It was fun bro, just run and shoot. Stop and run.

“It sets the tone for what the standard is for this team. All this talk, now is the time to do it. That was a hell of a game and it set the tone, but we have to do this every night. “This is the tone we want to set.”

Banchero is right. It's just a game, just a beginning. They're 1-0, but it's a big game. They had lost nine straight games in Miami. It's important to finally win here. The Magic also know what it's like to start slow. Two years ago they were 5-20 and last year they were 14-5.

You can't win them all if you don't win the first one. Now they go to second place on Friday evening when they face the Brooklyn Nets in Orlando. This is followed by a difficult phase in previous away games.

“For us to come out of this with only eight turnovers says something about our ability to share the basketball, move the basketball and trust the pass and the shot,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “I think Paolo did that.” I've said it many times. Get started quickly and correctly. We saw two years ago that if you start with 5-20 you catch up. These are the values ​​when you live through such seasons because you learn from these experiences. You know what a tough fight this will be.

“Well, this is just one game, but we have to stick to our process and the way we play the game the right way.”

One down. And done right.