Paolo Banchero led the Orlando Magic to a pivotal 119-112 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night, scoring 33 points and grabbing 10 rebounds to help his team tighten its hold on the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference play-in race.
The third-year forward shot 12-of-24 from the field and added four assists in 37 minutes as Orlando improved to 39-40 on the season.
Franz Wagner chipped in 22 points and six assists, while Wendell Carter Jr. posted 17 points, nine rebounds and a career-high six steals.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 15 points for the Magic, who have now won seven of their last nine games and sit two games ahead of Atlanta and 2.5 games ahead of Chicago with three games remaining.
The Hawks, who dropped to 37-42, were led by Onyeka Okongwu’s 30-point, 14-rebound performance, matching his career high in scoring.
Trae Young added 28 points and 10 assists, but Atlanta lost for the fourth time in its last five games and now faces a difficult path to climb higher than eighth in the East.
Despite a fast start that saw Atlanta score 31 in the first quarter, the Hawks were outscored 36-26 in the second and never regained the lead.
Orlando entered the fourth quarter with a three-point edge and pushed its lead to double digits late, fueled by layups from Wagner, Banchero, and Cory Joseph after Okongwu was assessed a technical foul.
The Magic shot an even 50 percent from the field and connected on 14-of-34 from three-point range, while forcing 18 turnovers and recording 13 steals.
Atlanta hit just 34.1 percent of its 41 three-point attempts and gave away 18 possessions, issues that proved costly in a close game.
Cory Joseph added eight points and five rebounds in a starting role, while rookie Anthony Black scored eight off the bench in 21 minutes.
Caleb Houstan chipped in seven points and two assists, and Jonathan Isaac grabbed five rebounds in limited minutes.
The Hawks, who were without Clint Capela, Jalen Johnson, and Kobe Bufkin, leaned heavily on their backcourt and Okongwu’s interior presence.
Caris LeVert scored 13 off the bench, but Atlanta’s second unit was outscored and outperformed in nearly every metric.
With this win, Orlando holds a 2-1 season series lead over the Hawks heading into the regular season finale between the two teams on Sunday.
If the Magic win that game, they will clinch the tiebreaker and effectively seal homecourt advantage in the play-in round.
The Hawks must win all three of their remaining games, including Sunday’s matchup in Orlando, to have a chance at the seventh seed.
Orlando, which currently ranks seventh in the East, is averaging 105.3 points per game while giving up 105.7, owning one of the lowest-scoring profiles among potential postseason teams.
Atlanta continues to struggle defensively, surrendering nearly 120 points per contest while allowing opponents to shoot over 47 percent from the floor this season.
