POSTGAME REACTION: Orlando Magic vs. Utah Jazz, 2/29/24.
All right Mark what do you think about jaylen’s performance tonight uh great performance you know showed a lot of passion out there on both ends of the floor but came up big and in you know making big shot threes going down there defending you know that’s what we need
From him every night this is greatness this is greatness right here he’s the best he’s just amazing he’s just amazing well done well done take us through we got a one-point game with two minutes left and that’s when jayen Suggs happened three consecutive threes walk us through that J I think great great
Looks from my teammates um you know great passes you know I found windows and they found me so a lot of credit goes to them and I mean to the team to the staff I mean they kept me up beat they kept me confident flowing the whole
Game uh you know wasn’t my the best day personally um you know but that’s what so special about this group I got a team full of brothers and father figures around me like this old man right here Joe Engles in case you missed it what was most important about this Victory it
Was hard Utah didn’t go away you had to battle what did you learn about this group here tonight I think the fact that we found a way to win I think that was sealed from us uh everybody contributed everybody did something we didn’t Panic uh you know we didn’t get rushed we
Found our way we Rhythm and just a way to win and at the end of the day when it comes down to it uh that’s all you want to do so how about what you guys are doing defensively right now now back to back games down the stretch that
Translates here as you make this playoff points how good can you guys be defensively I think we can be great I think we can be great on that end uh with the length that we have the versatility and just our will and want to play defense you know I think that’s
Rare nowadays so a team full of dog we’re playing defense we’re playing good basketball right now so keeping it rolling does it help having number five back it’s great having number five back that’s a killer right there that’s a killer cuz he kept us in it in the forth
That’s a killer all right listen magic fans are at home they want to hear an excited jayen Suggs lead us lead us Jay I need to play that song Orlando Magic Turn Me Up City 407 right now Paulo B Caro joins us here on Magic Live the postgame show Paulo congrats on the
Victory here tonight it’s great to have you back how are you feeling you if anyone deserved a couple of games off my goodness it was you with everything this year and then Allstar Weekend how are you feeling and how impressive was that win yeah I’m feeling good you know I was
Say play you know around 90% just getting right back to uh where I want to be um like you said it was it was a long you know Allstar break you know wasn’t much of a break and then I ended up coming down with a sickness so I was uh
Just battling that but uh I’m I’m feeling pretty good now coach just ran through your numbers in the fourth quarter you were on a mission you weren’t going to let this one get away just kind of take us through your mindset and how you delivered there in
The fourth tonight yeah you know I just wanted to be aggressive uh you know coming back my first game I knew it was going to be some Rust I had had some bad turnovers um throughout the game which I got to clean up but you know I just
Wanted to be aggressive getting to the rim and uh having my presence be felt out there and uh my teammates did a great job of Finding Me hello Coach Hill here did uh did Coach Mosley say anything to you when you came back in in the fourth quarter about uh you know
That he was going to go to you pretty much exclusively down the stretch there uh no he just told me you know I think after I got my first bucket you know I think I liked my matchup I think we all did and uh just wanted to you
Know keep killing that and um you know take advantage of it and uh I did a good job of I think not settling you know just you know punishing my Defender and um I think my teammates just did a great job of of adjusting and playing off of
That you know whether it was Jaylen hitting big shots um or guys you know cutting to the rim I was a little surprised I don’t know if you were that uh that after your first couple buckets they didn’t come and get a double team on you right away and make you give it
Up did that that that surprise you at all a little bit a little bit you know I’m used to seeing doubles and uh you know I think it’s just I love that though you know if you want to guard me one-onone you know I’ll take that all
Night and um you know I like my chances so you know like you said uh I think I was expecting it at first but when they when when they weren’t sending it you know I wanted to take advantage just go to work yes sir Paulo this is a game you
Had to grind out right and it it’s for those are great wins too and this is a a Utah team that plays hard they had it going from Beyond The Ark with 16 threes what didd you learn about your group how you had to gut it out here
Tonight yeah I think we just are are you know regardless of you know the mistakes we make or the the mess ups we have I think we’re just learning how to win and find ways to win and I think there’s a lot to be said for that I think that’s
The biggest Improvement I think from this season and last season is just these close games that are um neck and neck the first you know 40 minutes we’re able to find a way the last eight and pull away and um I just think that shows our group how much we’re together right
Now and um how we trust each other and we know that all these wins matter you know all these games matter um Counting towards our record you we just want to get as many as many wins as possible I’m just going to I’m not going to ask you a
Question I’m going to give you a little piece of advice right now having been in in a lot of uh these type of situations making the playoffs playing in the playoffs these next three games against teams that don’t have real good records these are the games where you can slip
Up these are the games where you really have to come in to these games with your mind right with your with your play right and and don’t let a a game against a lesser opponent slip away and cost you something at the end of the year yes sir
No for sure for sure that’s uh that’s something that I think you know we’re we’re preaching throughout the locker room and um just from the coaches to the players you know we got to come out every game and focus on getting a win Jaylen sugs we talked to a moment ago he
Called you a killer especially in the fourth quarter he called you a dog he’s a dog as well what’ you see from Jaylen with those three big threes in the fourth yeah I mean Jay he done put so much work in I think every time he
Shoots it now I think is going in um so that’s just a credit to him um and we all know you know Jaylen never sh shies away from the big moment you know making that that that play to put the game away and uh he did it again tonight just with
The threes and then with his defense you know getting stops pressuring their guards um but no he’s when he’s able to do both of that you know pressuring and then making big shots down the stretch you can’t ask more from your from your star guard all right Paulo Allstar
Weekend was it everything you thought it might be I we saw you rubbing elbows with all the greats in the NBA currently in NBA history how fun was that for you yeah Sunday night uh the game was amazing um some a day a night I’ll never
Forget just being in there being in the locker room um just being around those guys like you said uh it just was a dream come true and it’s something that you know once you experience it once you know you want to experience it again and
Again so um it was a great experience my family and friends got to come out um and support and um it was just a great experience for everybody I’m glad it happened first of many you made us proud you won 34 games last year tonight was
Win 34 this season how about that you right you match your whole to keep it going the city’s a buzz and it’s going to be a fun stretch run yes sir appreciate you guys you got it just a couple days ago about how much this time
Of year is is finding a way the way Jaylen came up with those back-to-back threes just just how big was that and how much of it is a testament to just willing your way to a victory what was more important than those big threes was
His defense I I think he did a fantastic job guarding uh for the most part you know George um getting into the basketball being willing to switch uh he kept his Poise and demeanor throughout the night so I just think it was it was very big of him
And then to be able to step in after sitting down for some time and being able to knock those shots down he did foul out eventually what was those conversations like late in the game when he picked up back-to-back fouls just what did you tell him in that moment well what I will
Go to is the question you asked earlier today about jayen Suggs and his defense how do we stop him from being aggressive but you know that last foul he gets it because he was being jayen Suggs with 32 seconds left on the clock going after
The block but before that he had been as as aggressive and as tough as we’ve needed him to be um and we’ll take some of that aggression and then we’ll just continue to learn from it but that’s who he is and you’re I’m not going to take
It we’re not going to take that away from him the uh um obviously Utah made a lot of lot of Threes you guys got got into the paint and and kind of did a lot of things that you normally do what does it say about this team to to keep the PO
To stay in the game even with shots not falling even with Utah you know not scoring a lot in the pain hitting some of those tough threes what does it say about this team’s Poise to stay in the game despite the runs that they were
Able to put on you guys well it’s being able to break down how they were getting them you know some of it was you know game plan we can adjust to that uh being able to go under screens and then back over and getting back into the
Basketball but a lot of those came on our turnover so what we had to be able to do I I I think you know turning it over 15 times for 25 points you know allows them to feel that break but I think our guys being in even in those
Moments of the turnovers being able to stay poised keep the game right and you know then go back to following the game plan as maybe amped as as the team is about about pulling out the win in the end is there a sense of frustration maybe about not being able to execute
The the game plan or or play Kind of Magic Basketball for for a good chunk of that game no there’s a standard you know we talk about you you we you got away with the win uh but understanding we have to hold we have to continue to hold
Ourselves to a higher standard and you know 15 turnovers for 25 points is not going to get it done and you know missing 10 free throws is not going to get it done and as we continue to grow and get better which this team is because they recognize that we’ll
Continue to get better throughout that coach what’s it say about Paulo to be visibly ill last week missed two games come back and and will this team do a victory there down the stretch I think he’s not afraid of those big moments and his teammates trust him to be able to
Make those big plays uh it says a lot about our group but and trusting that he knew where the double team was coming from he saw the lane and those spray outs to the corn to the the corner three was that big one on the last one I think just the trust that
These guys have in each other it goes such a long way I’m picking up on that point on Pao in the fourth period you know what did you just like from him exploiting that matchup on Hendrick looks like you guys on a couple of possessions just back to back to back
Went to that left Baseline put up an ISO just were you guys looking for him to get those match up was was that just like in the flow of the game well you see it early and the great part about this group is that there there’s a high
Level of communication of what’s working what’s not working and you know you find that that was one of the matchups you can go to because in that moment they’ve either got a double team uh or he’s going to get the fou or he’s going to
Get to the basket and that that was one of the things of him being able to find that Rhythm after being out for the few games a lot of it can be found on that block where you can get your rhythm going there’s 22 games left but you guys
Won your 34th tonight you won 34 all all of last year we’ve talked so much about growth but what does that represent to you a group that understands exactly what we’re capable of doing uh but never satisfied uh wanting to continue to grow and get better it says a lot about this
Coaching staff who put who they put in so much work with these guys and with you know for themselves to be able to help these guys reach the highest levels of success that they can and so that to me that’s what it says about a phenomenal group of of of young men and
Coaches is thank you
The Orlando Magic defeated the Utah Jazz on Thursday by a score of 115-107. Hear from Jalen Suggs, Paolo Banchero, and coach Jamahl Mosley on the win!
