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What the Magic Said After Beating the Kings 121-91, Clinching Postseason Spot

Published 4 days ago4 minute read

ORLANDO, Fla. –– The Orlando Magic cruised to a 30-point victory over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday evening, officially securing a spot in the postseason.

After the contest, Magic coach Jamahl Mosley, forward Caleb Houstan and center Goga Bitadze met reporters to discuss the result.

Below is a partial transcript of the conversations and accompanying video.

“I think they responded the right way to the other night, took the challenge on the ‘play for 48 minutes.’ And I think this group did a very good job of holding each other accountable and just continuing to play the right [way], first [and] foremost defensively.”

“I thought Paolo (Banchero) was good. I think he’s trying to make the right plays, make the right passes. For his standard, I don’t think he...he probably wanted to knock some more free throws down. But again, just continue to keep his effort going, staying the same the entire game. I think that’s very important for him as we continue to move forward.”

“You know, I think just understanding what we need to do with him. Keeping him off the glass was big. You know, obviously, he does a heck of a job down there but just being a little bit more physical and he got a lot of it, you know, just us fouling him. So, when we did the job without fouling, I think that’s where we improved the game plan.”

“I thought our second unit was great. I think when they stepped into the game, they had so much energy, so much pop, so much...just, there was just a great energy about the way in which they played off of each other, with one another. I think that was a great, I thought it was just really great how they provided that for us tonight.”

“I think we just have to stay the same. I think that it’s slowly, piece by piece. I think it’s one game at a time, but we’re doing some really good things and the more we can string it together for 48 minutes the better we’ll be, yes. 

“One game at a time, you know, we’re not done and that’s what we have to continue to focus on one game at a time. You know, you’ve got the Clippers coming in here, our focus needs to be on the Clippers now. And understand exactly what we need to do for that game at home.” 

“Yeah. It was good. Good game. We took care of the basketball. We really paid attention to the details, pretty much the whole game. You know, we had too many stretches I think, still, that got away but as long as we can limit those to just a minimum, I mean, we’re going to be good and we just have to, like you said – [play] a 48-minute game. One minute, two three’s can change the game so we have to be as locked in as we can next game. We have to build on this. It’s not like, oh, we played a good game and now it’s like, let’s get back to [playing] bad. We just have to keep building on this and it’s a great win.”

“We’ve got seven games left. We’ve really got to win them all. I mean, it’s just a close battle. We might even make it out of the play-in. Our job is to prepare for the playoffs, and we know [that] we have to win the games and get there, but we know we’re a playoff team. All we try to do is just win the games. The mindset doesn’t really change for us. I mean, we’ve just got to step in and do what the coaches tell us to do. Go out there and compete.”

“I think just pushing the pace. I think A.B. (Anthony Black) did a great job just pushing the pace; obviously scoring for himself and finding others.”

“Yeah, it was good. [We] started off the game well. Making shots and getting stops is always good, so I think it kind of set us up for the rest of the game.”

“I mean, yeah, it’s [felt] good making shots. I think when anyone makes shots, I think everyone else gets happy and it’s a good kind of vibe.”

The Magic's three-game homestand concludes Monday, March 31 at 7 p.m. ET when the Los Angeles Clippers visit the Kia Center.

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