My Two Cents: Banchero Demanded Fast Start From Magic, And He Delivers in Rout

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero has gone from good to very good to great in a short time, and all his skills were on display in Wednesday's season-opening rout of the Miami Heat. He had 33 points and completely dominated Heat All-Star Bam Adebayo.

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) sets up the offense against the Miami Heat. / Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

MIAMI, Fla. — Even with more than six minutes left in the Orlando Magic's season opener at Miami, the Kaseya Center was already half-empty. A blowout by the visitors tends to do that.

That didn't stop Magic star Paolo Banchero from having a little fun, though. After stopping, popping and dropping a three-pointer to give the Magic a 32-point lead, Banchero waved goodbye to the fans marching up the aisles. It was an emphatic gesture, one worthy of a 116-97 rout of your in-state rivals that wasn't even that close.

It was also a lot of fun.

"Yeah, this was really fun,'' Banchero said. "We knew this was going to be a tough game coming in here and I know haven't won a game here, and a lot of guys haven't won here in our careers. We knew we were going to have to play a hell of a game and play with a lot of energy. To put on that effort in the second half and pull away like we did, turning defense to offense, that's kind of our calling card."

Banchero had a hell of a night. He had 33 points and 11 rebounds in 31 minutes, and made four three-pointers as well. He did it against Bam Adebayo too, a guy who's been on multiple All-Star teams and has a couple of Olympic gold medals.

I'm not a big plus/minus guy, but Banchero was a plus-42. Adebayo was minus-30. That's domination.

It's also not a surprise to Banchero's teammates. Veteran Gary Harris — who had a heck of a night himself, scoring 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from three — has witnessed Banchero go from good to very good to great since being drafted No. 1 overall out of Duke three years.

"He's a professional, and that's what he does,'' Harris said. "He just continues to get better, especially as he gets more experience. He's a hell of a talent, and we all know that. It's been fun to watch him grow, and he's still growing. The sky's the limit with him, and it's fun for all of us to get behind him.''

Banchero was an All-Star himself a year ago, and he's starting to get more of a national reputation now after the Magic made the postseason in 2024. The Magic made a big jump a year ago, from 34 wins to 47, largely because of Banchero's extremely high skill level.

But each night in the NBA, there are measuring sticks. Wednesday was one of the nights, against Adebayo. It's also the Miami Heat, on the road, in an electric building. This was the home opener for one, and it was a night to celebrate Pat Riley and all he's done for the Heat in the past 30 years, including three NBA titles. They named the court after him in an elaborate — and very long — halftime ceremony.

The Magic led by four at the break, 58-54. But they took full advantage of the extra 10 minutes at halftime, and got dialed in. They outscored the Heat 39-18 in the third quarter, and built the lead to 32 by midway through the fourth.

It was impressive. Sure it's just one game, but that was a heck of a start.

"We knew we would have more time to rest (at halftime), and we were just trying to keep the energy high,'' Banchero said. "We knew we had to start fast (in the third quarter), and that's exactly what we did. It's fun when you can get stops like that possession after possession and they lead to runouts and threes and easy buckets, I've never played on a teams where you can actually do that. I don't know how many in a row we got, but it was ridiculous. It was also natural. It was fun, bro, just run and gun. Get the stop and run.

"It sets the tone for what the standard is for this team. All this talking, now it's the time to do it. This was a hell of a game, and it set the tone, but we have to do this every night. That's the tone we want to set.''

Banchero is right. It's just one game, just a start. They're 1-0, but it is a big one. They had lost nine straight games in Miami. That matters, finally winning here. The Magic also know what it's like to start slow. They were 5-20 out of the gate two years ago, but 14-5 last year.

You can't win them all if you don't win the first one. Now it's on to No. 2 on Friday night, when they take on the Brooklyn Nets in Orlando. A tough stretch of early road games follow.

"For us to come out of here with just eight turnovers, it says something about our ability to share the basketball, and move the basketball and trust the pass and trust the shot,'' Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. "I think Paolo has said it a lot. Start fast, and start the right way. We saw two years ago when you start 5-20, you're playing catch-up. Those are the values of going through seasons like that, because you learn from those experiences. You know what kind of uphill battle that becomes.

"Now this is just one game, but we have to stick to our process and the way in which we're going to play the game the right way.

One down. And done the right way.