Orlando Magic Grades: Orlando Magic 103, Boston Celtics 102

The Orlando Magic are still establishing their identity and the kind of team they want to be.

That is certainly partly an attitude too. They want to take on challenges and meet them. They want to play with versatility where everyone is working together and everyone can do what the other players are doing on the floor too.

And when the clock is ticking down, someone has to make a play. The Magic want the bell-ringing plays, but they will need someone to make a winning play too.

After several chances to take the lead were missed and the Magic kept themselves afloat, they got the one stop they needed. But time was ticking down as Garrison Matthews missed a late 3-pointer.

Robin Lopez corralled the rebound and fired the ball ahead to Jeff Dowtin. The crowd rose and crescendoed anticipating this do-or-die play for the win. it felt all incredibly normal even in a preseason game.

Dowtin showed in Summer League how good he was at getting into the paint and he was more than willing to get all the way in. He got cut off and was looking for a quick outlet to an open shooter. No one was there and with one second left, Dowtin knew he had to shoot.

His heavily contested fadeaway jumper found the back of the net with 0.2 seconds left. The Magic scored their first preseason win 103-102 and sent everyone home happy.

The Orlando Magic stood up to the challenge offered by the Boston Celtics as Jeff Dowtin’s game-winner gave the team a win in their final preseason game.

The Magic stood up to their challenge and made the big play to get the win. If there was a lesson to come from the Magic’s final preseason game, it was this team’s ability to adjust on the fly and make plays happen.

Plays like Mohamed Bamba getting switched onto Romeo Langford and devouring his layup attempt. Or Wendell Carter getting a feed and dunking all over Bruno Fernando. Or Franz Wagner feeding a backdoor pass to Terrence Ross, who twisted in the air and finished the layup.

The Magic have had to adjust plenty and have found themselves stuck at times as they figure things out, but this team has kept at it and kept their confidence up through it all.

Here is the attitude the Magic are looking for. This physical and confident attitude that ends up making the big play. The one that sticks with it and occasionally sticks its chest out.

Dowtin, likely heading down to Lakeland now that the preseason is over, got an ice water bath from his teammates after the game. Everyone was truly happy for their teammate regardless of his roster status. That is how close and tied together this team is.

And after weeks of hard work, they got one reward for their efforts before the grind of the regular season begins.

Player Grades

Mohamed Bamba: A-

The biggest takeaway from the preseason has been the resurrection of Mohamed Bamba. He has been a true revelation, reclaiming a lot of what people thought he could do when he was drafted in the 2018 NBA Draft. Bamba is getting out to the perimeter and corraling players, he is deterring every shot at the rim even when he is not blocking shots and he is just staying generally active.

Bamba finished with 10 points on 3-for-7 shooting, adding five rebounds and five blocks to his tally. His shot was not going in– he sometimes settled a bit too much for his turnaround jumper over the set defense — but he was extremely active defensively. The only complaint was how he sometimes put himself out of position for rebounds. But Bamba is growing in all the right directions at the moment.

Wendell Carter: A-

With how good Mohamed Bamba is playing, it could be easy to slide him into the starting center spot and just put that in sharpie. But Wendell Carter is playing equally as well throughout the preseason. And he has honestly taken to playing the power forward position really effectively. Maybe he should not be guarding the Jayson Tatums of the world (he sat out this one), but he can hold his own.

Carter again put up a solid stat line: 13 points, nine rebounds, 4-for-7 shooting. He was confident shooting the ball all over the floor and dug out plenty of rebounds. He played really well at the 4 against the Boston Celtics’ big lineup. He had five turnovers, which was really the only bad thing anyone could say about him on this night.

Franz Wagner: B

Franz Wagner too has struggled through much of the preseason with his shot and his counting stats. It is kind of easy to overlook him — he had only seven points on 3-for-8 shooting. And, honestly, I might have too if I were not in the Amway Center watching him. But Jamahl Mosley and his teammates are right, Franz Wagner does so many things that do not show up in a box score.

Wagner is an excellent cutter and he opens up space for others even if he is not the one getting the pass. He is a really skilled passer when given the chance to find guys off cuts. He is a really good defender, always putting himself in the right position. Maybe he is a bit overeager at times, but he can dart into passing lanes and his length on the wings is areal benefit to the team — especially when they dropped into that 2-3 zone in the second quarter.

Wagner is doing some really nice things. The rookie just needs a chance to settle in and the Magic need to do a better job putting him in positions to take advantage of his skills.

R.J. Hampton: B+

R.J. Hampton still feels like he is going at a break-neck pace. And the fact is that is where he is at his best. But even at that speed, you can see the glimmer of control in his eye. In transition, he is at home and he can find open space to get to the basket. Give him that little window, and he will blow his way through there and get to the basket.

Hampton scored a game-high 20 points, grabbing eight rebounds too. He made two of his five 3-point shots as his 3-pointer is much improved. And his patience and ability to get to the foul line is also a whole lot better. Hampton is really finding his pace right now.

Boston Celtics: B+

The Orlando Magic should feel really good about the win. Yes, Jayson Tatum, Dennis Schroder and Marcus Smart did not play. And yes, Jaylen Brown and Al Horford were held out too in health and safety protocols. But the Celtics played a really strong game. They played with energy and kept coming at the Magic finding ways to get through their pressure throughout the game.

Boston ended up shooting 42.9-percent from the floor and even struggled from deep throughout the game. They did a good job turning the Magic over and converting that into points. Boston had the game in control throughout but could never really put away Orlando. Still, for the team’s deep bench players, Boston had an equally encouraging showing for its players.

The Magic finish their preseason at 1-3. They are next in action for the opening night of the NBA’s 2022 season on Wednesday in San Antonio against the San Antonio Spurs.