No NBA team has gone 82-0, so the Magic losing to the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday 124-111 after going 2-0 doesn’t mean it’s time for any sort of panic, but the eyebrow was raised a bit for what the Magic need to address heading into Monday night hosting the Indiana Pacers in a hard-fought 119-115 win and beyond.

While Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley stressed the small sample size at this point in the season, he observed that teams are going to try to fastbreak off rebounds to keep Orlando’s defense off balance. The Magic’s size encourages teams to try and beat them with speed so they don’t have to face their tough and physical defense. Moreover, Orlando’s 19 turnovers turning into 30 points against the Grizzles was another focus for improvement.

If there’s a team that would challenge the Magic in such a fashion, it would be the Indiana Pacers. More than just a clever nickname, the Pacers were 4th in the NBA last season in fastbreak points.

Orlando’s star forward Paolo Banchero scored 19 points in the first quarter (the most in a quarter since he did it on January 5th, 2023 against the Memphis Grizzlies) on the way to tying the highest-scoring half in Magic history with Tracy McGrady in 2003 dropping 37 points. Point guard Jalen Suggs also did his part, hitting his first three-pointers to post a 71-59 halftime lead.

Banchero finished with a career-high in scoring with 50 points, 13 rebounds, and nine assists to finish with a double-double making him the 4th Orlando player in history to reach the 50 mark (Others include Tracy McGrady, Shaquille O’Neal, and Nick Anderson) and he the second youngest to score 50 with 10 or more boards since LeBron James. Suggs turned in 25 points of his own with seven assists sinking six of his 13 attempts from downtown.

After the half, Indiana picked up the pace scoring 39 third-quarter points to take the lead back 98-93 outscoring the Magic’s 22 during that 14 minutes. Pacers forward Pascal Siakam got 10 of his  26 points while Banchero went cold with four.

However, bench contributions came up big again in a victory where Mo Wagner had 14 points and Anthony Black had eight including a clutch bomb from distance in the corner that all but sealed the contest. While the Magic turned the ball over 15 times in the second consecutive game, they allowed only 17 points to Indiana on those mistakes. Additionally, the Pacers only scored eight fastbreak points for the night.

The Magic begin a five-game road trip in Chicago on Wednesday and return to Orlando to do battle with the New Orleans Pelicans on November 8th.