Top 10 games of the Orlando Magic's 2024 season

5. Jan. 3, 2024: Paolo goes for 40

There is only one loss included in this top-10 list. That is how far the Orlando Magic have come. It would have to take something very special to earn a place on this list in a loss.

That is what Paolo Banchero did twice, but most especially in a Jan. 3 loss to the Sacramento Kings.

Banchero confirmed his superstar credentials in a double overtime game as he nearly willed the Magic to a road win.

The game marked Banchero's second career 40-point game, as he scored 43 points on 13-for-25 shooting. He hit six of his nine 3-pointers. And he took over the end of the game, making shot after shot to keep the Magic in it.

Orlando was dealing with injuries throughout the game. Franz Wagner left early in the game after turning his ankle. That put the Magic in a bind against one of the best shooting teams in the league.

The Magic though answered the bell, making 25 of 44 3-pointers, a season high. Jalen Suggs hit six of his 12 3-pointers to help pick up the slack and keep the Magic alive as they still sorted through their rotation with Wendell Carter coming off the bench.

The team had to grit and find its way through the game with everything going against them. The Magic having to find their way to win, this was a game that signified what the team's culture was about.

But Banchero was the story. Orlando does a lot of things well but it is Banchero who elevates the team into something different. And this was by far his best individual game.

It was the kind of game that only a superstar player can have. Sometimes the team just needs a player to go for 40.

Banchero did not do that in his rookie year. He had a few 30-point games and a few big closes. But it was this game—along with his first 40-point effort to help erase a 2-for-19 3-point showing in a December loss in Cleveland—that showed that Banchero could be the kind of star to carry a team.

He did it again in the Playoffs. This was merely a preview of what was possible. And what remains possible from him.

Banchero is that guy who can take over and will a team to a victory. He just came up frustratingly short by one play in this loss to the Kings.