Two Southeast Division rivals with high expectations will meet for the first time Friday, as the Orlando Magic host the visiting Atlanta Hawks.
The two consensus picks to make the Eastern Conference playoffs, Orlando and Atlanta last met in the 7-on-8 tournament game in April, a 120-95 victory over Magic. While each team returns its core while adding key newcomers, neither team wants to return to play-in.
Orlando opened its season with a 125-121 victory over the Miami Heat on Wednesday, launching its revamped offense, led in part by offseason trade acquisition Desmond Bane.
The former Memphis Grizzlies guard was dealt to the Magic in June and began his career in Orlando with 23 points.
“It was good, I’m not going to lie,” Bane said of his first match in Orlando. “It’s going to be a good place to be, that’s for sure… We’ve got work to do. It’s always good to leave here with a win, but we still have a long way to go. It’s the first of 82 (games). It’s a long journey. It doesn’t happen overnight.”
Bane should provide a boost to an Orlando team that reached the playoffs despite averaging just 105.4 points per game (28th in the league), while shooting a league-worst 31.8 percent on 3-point attempts.
Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner had 24 points each in the season-opening victory. Looking to complement last season’s No. 1 defense (105.5 points per game allowed), Orlando is taking on the challenge of its new offensive balance.
“They’re really good problems,” Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley said. “…The beauty of this team is our depth, our unity and the determination with which we must continue to work for each other.”
Atlanta’s highly anticipated season started with a whimper on Wednesday, as the Hawks were uncompetitive in a 138-118 home loss to the Toronto Raptors. As new faces debuted in Kristaps Porzingis, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Luke Kennard, Atlanta trailed by 29 points in the season opener, allowing the Raptors to score 86 points in the paint.
“A lot of things we have to clean up, stating the obvious,” Hawks head coach Quin Snyder said. “…It’s tough to have that in your home opener. The enthusiasm that we have has to be channeled properly into the things that are going to help us win games.”
Wednesday marked the return of Jalen Johnson, who saw his 2024-25 season end in January after a torn labrum in his left shoulder. Johnson and Trae Young had 22 points each, while Porzingis scored 20, but the good news ended there for the Hawks, who look to bounce back Friday.
“I don’t think there’s a lot of positives to take from tonight,” Young said after the 20-point loss. “It’s embarrassing the way we started. A lot of it came from pre-season, obviously it continued, all five of us didn’t play. You could tell by the continuity we had there, it wasn’t good. But the cream always rises to the top. We had time to catch up and get going.”
–Field level media
