MINNEAPOLIS -- Desmond Bane was brought to Orlando for his three-point shooting. The Orlando Magic needed his volume shooting and spacing to make their offense work. The thought of him pouring in 30 points with five or six 3-pointers felt like that would unlock so much.
Instead, it has been a different mentality that has defined his season.
It has been his ability to get to the rim that has defined his season after the early season struggles. It is still what defines him. Because when he is not making threes, he has one thing on his mind:
ATTACK THE PAINT.
Bane was aggressive, scoring 30 points and making all 10 of his free throws. Even a sharpshooter does not always need his 3-point shooting if he can get to the basket and finish with creativity. And Bane had his second 30-point game without making a three-pointer this season -- both on the road against teams expecting to compete for a title.
The Magic's key to success was always centered on their ability to attack and attack quickly. That is how the Magic built as much as a 20-point lead in the third quarter. That is how they re-expanded the lead back out to 19 in the fourth quarter.
That is how they defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 119-92.
It all starts in the paint for both sides of the ball.
"We've talked about that for a while, being able to touch the paint and that creates everything else for us," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Saturday's game. "Our guys are doing a great job being able to protect the paint, cover for each other and flying around defensively, which is great to see."
The Magic finished with 60 points in the paint, their third straight game with at least 50 points in the paint. That is the second such streak since the All-Star Break and the second since the New Orleans Pelicans game, and the two games in Europe against the Memphis Grizzlies. They outscored the Timberwolves by 22 points in the paint.
This is a key part of the Magic's identity. And they put that on full display to snap the Timberwolves' five-game win streak and pick up a critical road win.
Paint Mentality
It is not easy to want to go into the teeth of the defense and take on all that physical punishment. Especially when there is a 7-footer blocking shots left and right. It takes a disciplined team to get downhill like that and dominate a game like this.
As with everything for the Orlando Magic, it goes double considering their shooting struggles (9 for 34 in the game). They have to stay aggressive and try to get to the rim.
No one exemplifies that quite like Desmond Bane. He is always looking to get to the rim. Especially when he is struggling to make shots from the outside.
"He just takes what the game gives him," Mosley said after Saturday's win. "That's what great players do. He's just adjusting to how teams are playing him. His ability to get downhill, knowing they were going to pressure him, not let him get any threes off. And his ability to adjust to that and the team's ability to adjust to him to give him space to get downhill was very big for this group tonight."
That aggressive mindset permeated the entire team. Orlando had 31 free throw attempts and forced 24 personal fouls. They outscored the Timberwolves 60-38 in the paint, holding Minnesota to just 36 paint field goal attempts.
Desmond Bane went six for six in the restricted area and Paolo Banchero was 9 for 10 in the restricted area to lead the team (Banchero finished with 25 points).
"It's great for the team when we're being aggressive downhill, making plays whether it's scoring, passing, getting fouled," Banchero said after Saturday's win. "That's a huge plus when we're playing that way."
It was a constant assault. And when the Magic were at their best, they were attacking and scoring with force right at the rim.
That is what Magic basketball is supposed to be.
Owning the Paint on Defense
It was not just on offense that the Orlando Magic owned the paint. The other side of their identity is their ability to defend the paint and keep teams from scoring at the rim.
It takes a physical brand of defense to be able to stand up to teams and push them when they are so close to the basket. The Magic's breakdowns this year have often come because they are not as strong in the paint as they were in previous seasons.
Winning the paint on both ends takes discipline. And that is what has defined the Magic and defined their win.
"I think any game you look at the team that dominates the paint wins the game," Paolo Banchero said after Saturday's win. "Just put an emphasis on that every night. We knew coming in here, we didn't want to give them a lot of easy looks. I thought we did a good job making it hard on them and not giving them easy basket."
Orlando for the season is giving up 51.4 points in the paint per game, 20th in the league. That is down from 45.7 per game last year, the third-fewest in the league. The Magic had lost some of that paint physicality.
The 36 points in the paint they gave up on Saturday were the third-fewest this season. That is a testament to the team's entire defense. They held the Timberwolves to eight offensive rebounds and kept Rudy Gobert to just eight total rebounds.
It helped them simplify their game and be the team they are supposed to be.
"That's been something that we've been preaching," Desmond Bane said in the locker room after Saturday's game. "The best teams in the league on the defensive side protect the paint and take the paint away. I thought we did a pretty good job of that. Good defensive effort from us."
There are growing hints of the Magic getting back to that style and that identity. As slow as they have been to build.
Building with another major road win while doing the things they were designed to do remains a positive sign as the season begins to wind toward its close.
But the big thing on Saturday was their dominance inside. That is the Magic's path forward.