MagicOne

I didn't see the game or read the box score yet, but there is no shame in getting beat by a decent Bulls team at their place. And let's not forget that both Giddey and White are exceptional players. They are tough to deal with, that's for certain. Plus, the Bulls are on kind of a run right now. It wasn't that bad of a road trip.

A win is always a great thing. That I can tell you. I mean do we love wins? We love wins right? Of course, we do. Happy New Year to everyone!

Tyus Jones never turns the ball over. He helps to calm things down. He will be a tremendous asset in the playoffs. No need to respond. I just wanted to point that out to you in case you weren't aware of it.

The one thing I will say though is how incredible it is that year after year we can't hit any 3 pointers consistently. We even bring in some dudes who were proven 3-point shooters in the past and then suddenly they go brick city when they put on a Magic uniform. It's so bad that I bet if you put a Magic uniform on Steph Curry, he would suddenly turn into a 29 percent shooter from downtown. Very baffling. Hopefully they can get it to where they are knocking down close to 10 per game. That would be a decent number for them.

Wow all of the negativity here is certainly mind boggling. Especially after such a big road win against a decent Pacers team. Any win on the road is tremendous. Was it a masterpiece? No. But it was still a win. Plenty of positives to embrace. Paolo shot better than 50 percent from the field today. He also had 3 blocked shots. He was more engaged with his teammates while showing more emotion. He is slowly getting back to his old self. It takes time. Once this team has all of the pieces back, they will soar to incredible heights. Trust the process and be patient. You're about to witness something incredible in 2026!

The Magic thought this was going to be an easy win too. And therein lies the problem. Now they have to face the Joker tomorrow night. His last game he had a 56-point triple double. 18 of those points were scored in overtime. If we play like we did tonight he may have a triple double halfway through the first quarter.

They simply got outworked tonight. No sugarcoating that. They treated this like a warmup game for the Nuggets tomorrow night and got burned. The offense was hard to watch. Missing a bunch of shots right at the rim. If we can't make layups we are in serious trouble due to the lack of consistent 3-point shooting. I think Paolo is not at 100 percent and is just being used as a decoy right now. He is playing like a third stringer or a 10th man off the bench type. When is the last time he shot even 40 percent from the field? Come to think of it, when is the last time the Magic as a team shot anywhere near 50 percent for a full game? Simply put, without Franz and Jalen it's a total disaster.

If we are fully healthy there is no doubt that anywhere from 60-65 wins is very possible. One thing we should all be thankful for is that during all of these injuries and Paolo's struggles we have more than hung around in terms of winning percentage. And a lot of guys are getting valuable minutes, which will help to strengthen the bench even more once everyone returns. We may very well be one of the deepest teams in the league at that point. You have 4 or 5 starters who can go out and score 20 plus on any given night. And then you will have a bench where guys like AB, TDS, and Mo-V can score in bunches too. Just have to be patient. There's a plan. There's always a plan.

I knew we had a chance tonight. Tyus was exceptional in this game. He was on a mission. Bane and Black were awesome as well. It was a nice win. A little rocky toward the end. But a win is a win.

On a positive note, at least he wasn't jacking up a bunch of ill-advised shots. Instead, he was feeding the hot hands while keeping the ball moving. The offense was flowing a little better playing this way. But he does need to start getting more aggressive eventually. Especially with regards to attacking the basket.

Franz Wagner is 24-17 without Paolo. Paolo is 7-15 without Franz in the lineup. Coincidence? Is there more to this than meets the eye? Franz has played a half a season without Banchero. Paolo has played a little more than a quarter of a season without Franz. Does this pass the sniff test folks? And is Suggs a factor in all of this?

A lot of guys on the injury list for tonight's game. Quite a few of them are questionable. And for us, that usually means they ain't playing. However, the Blazers have a big, injured list as well. A lot of key players listed on there too. With that being said we may have a shot at winning tonight. They are on a back-to-back also. I still think we will eventually buckle and go on to lose the game. It just won't be as lopsided as I would have predicted without all of Portland's injuries. Just too many injuries folks. And as most of you seem to be acknowledging, both Franz and Suggs are so very vital to the success of this team. Without them it's a total disaster quite frankly.

I recently read that Mo Wagner is getting close to a return. It could be possible that he, Franz, Jalen, and TDS could all be back within the next couple of weeks. Isaac's ft shooting has been horrible! Tyus has been a little better, but still not good enough to get it done.

JI starting to look like Shaq at the ft line. What in the world has happened?!

With this loss tonight and the loss tomorrow night in Portland, we now have a 16-14 record heading back home to face Charlotte. That's not too bad of shape. Still lead the division and are within striking distance of the 3 spot in the east. Both the Heat and Hawks are floundering right now. Atlanta has lost 3 games in a row since Trey Young returned to the lineup. Coincidence? Get well soon Franz and Jalen!