Magic Notes: Bane, Isaac, Cain, Series Lead

The Magic‘s big offseason addition came through for the team when they needed him most. After scoring 17 points on 20 shots in Game 1 and 12 points on 11 shots in Game 2, Desmond Bane got hot, scoring 25 points on 9-18 shooting and hitting 7-9 from three in Game 3.

Not only did Bane lead the Magic to a 2-1 series lead over the top-seeded Pistons, but he also tied Dennis Scott‘s franchise playoff record for made threes in a game, Mike Bianchi writes for the Orlando Sentinel.

“Hopefully, I break (the record) before these playoffs are over,” Bane said after the game.

Bane hitting threes at that level is what the Magic envisioned when they traded for him, and at least for one game, it changed the way the Pistons had to guard them.

“I think that opens up another dimension for our group,” Franz Wagner said of Bane’s shooting, per ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk.

We have more news and notes from the Magic:

• Previously listed as doubtful, Jonathan Isaac has been ruled out for Game 4 with a left knee sprain, The Sentinel’s Jason Beede notes (via Twitter). Isaac hasn’t suited up since March 12, when he only played one minute. He hasn’t played 10 minutes since February 26, and he has only been available for 52 games this season.
• Jamal Cain‘s box score impact might not be attention-grabbing, but he has earned the trust of his teammates with his steady, veteran play, Beede writes. “[The players] celebrate him when he has some success, but he just does all the little things within a game, rebounding, guarding multiple players,” coach Jamahl Mosley said. “And just does it without saying anything, just (does) what’s necessary to help this team get a win.” While Cain was on the roster of the 2022/23 Heat, who went from an 8 seed to the NBA Finals, this series represents his first chance to get on the floor of a playoff series. “I knew he was a rotational player (back) in open gym,” Bane said. “Just the way he defends, the way he’s able to make open shots … (He’s) unselfish and plays extremely hard. Those guys don’t grow on trees. So, I knew it was only a matter of time, and in this league when you get your opportunity, you’ve got to be ready. And he was ready.”
• It has been sixteen years since the Magic led a playoff series after three or more games, Josh Robbins writes for The Athletic. It hasn’t been an easy road to get to this point, but the players and coaching staff have overcome adversity and earned this opportunity to extend the series lead on Monday night through their resilience and timely coalescing, Beede adds. “We just want to win so bad,” star forward Paolo Banchero said. “Once we got into the play-in, got our spot in the playoffs … It’s a new season, that’s all we kept saying. It’s a new season, new energy.” They know that the Pistons are not going to make things easy on them as Detroit faces an unexpected uphill climb. “We know what the next game holds,” said Jalen Suggs. “We know the magnitude of it, and we’ve got to come out and continue doing the things that we did tonight and build off of a couple key learning moments that we can take with us into the next one.”