Paolo Banchero, Magic Talk Highlight Reel That Helped Inspire Upset of Pistons in G1 of NBA Playoffs

Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley found a unique way to inspire his team prior to the start of their playoff series against the Detroit Pistons.

Per ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk, Mosley showed the Magic roster a three-minute video package featuring highlights of players and some assistant coaches from their past appearances in the NCAA tournament during their shootaround prior to Game 1.

Paolo Banchero told Youngmisuk his favorite clip was featured Lionel Chalmers, who has been an assistant coach in Orlando since 2019, during his time at Xavier:

"The one that got me going was they showed Lionel. It was grainy, but the move he did, he came down in transition, went real fast, then slow, hesi pullup for 3 ... it was just a clean-ass shot. I was like damn. That got [everybody] going. ... It was just us remembering and realizing that our season's on the line. Coach's point was just telling everybody that we've all been in this situation before, whether in the pros, college, where it's do-or-die, win-or-go home type of game. And we all performed in that moment."

Jalen Suggs, whose game-winning three from the logo against UCLA in the 2021 Final Four closed the video, explained that it was a good reminder of where they came from to get to this point.

"It makes everybody feel a bit better," Suggs told Youngmisuk. "You remember where you came from. Mose is really good at that, giving us reminders of who we are, our complete basketball journey, not just whether it be the frustrations or the heaviness of right now."

Magic-Pistons Highlights

01:30

The Magic's already-frustrating season seemed doomed six days ago. They entered the play-in tournament coming off a loss in the regular-season finale to the Boston Celtics, whose starting five in the game was Baylor Scheiermann, Luka Garza, Ron Harper Jr., Jordan Walsh and Max Shulga.

Orlando laid an egg in a 109-97 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers to determine the No. 7 seed and looked ready to start the offseason, despite still having to return home to host the Charlotte Hornets in the final play-in game in the East.

Banchero, in particular, was awful against the Sixers. He scored 18 points on 7-of-22 shooting, committed six turnovers and had the worst plus-minus of anyone in the game (minus-17).

After running the Hornets off the floor in 121-90 victory to clinch the eighth seed, the Magic followed it up with a 112-101 win over the Pistons in Game 1. They became the first No. 8 seed to beat a one seed in Game 1 since the Miami Heat did it to the Milwaukee Bucks in 2023.

Banchero is averaging 24.0 points on 53.1 percent shooting, 7.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game in the last two wins.

There's still a long way to go for the Magic to pull off an upset of the Pistons, but this team always had the talent to be a force in the Eastern Conference this season.

Perhaps Mosley's use of old highlights unlocked something that will allow the Magic to finally live up to their potential. They will look to keep their positive momentum going on Wednesday night when they play the Pistons in Game 2 at 7 p.m. ET.