NBA News

Home

Teams

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Nov 1, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) drives to the basket as Washington Wizards forward Cam Whitmore (1) defends in the first half at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Star duo dominates in Magic's washout of Wizards

Originally posted on Orlando Magic on SI
By Matt Hanifan | Last updated Nov 1, 2025 9:58 PM ET

The Orlando Magic eviscerated the Washington Wizards, 125-94, Saturday evening inside Capital One Arena. The Magic are winners of two straight for the first time all season.

What were a few of our takeaways from their blowout win? Let's examine!

Magic's defense sparks massive second quarter surge:

The Magic had arguably their best quarter of the evening in the second against Washington. Many may focus on the 43 points they scored, but it all started on the defensive end.

Coming off their best game of the season against Charlotte, the Magic's defense regressed back to the mean in the opening quarter against Washington, the NBA's No. 26-ranked offense entering Saturday's action.

Neither team faced much resistance, though Washington finished the quarter with a 120.7 offensive rating on 15-of-24 shooting. Every Wizards shot was coming easy. There was no urgency, with both teams going through the motions on that end of the floor.

That didn't last long, however.

The Wizards not only missed their first 10 shots of the period, but the Magic were applying more pressure on the ball, making quicker rotations, playing the passing lanes and allowing their defense to fuel their offense. Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner were dominant -- combining for 43 first-half points, including 26 of the team's 43 second-quarter points -- but it all started with getting stops.

Magic's star duo dominates:

Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Life in the NBA is always easier when your best players play ... like, well, your best players. That's what the Magic's star duo -- Banchero and Wagner -- did from the opening tip. Banchero finished with 28 points and 11 rebounds on 9-of-15 shooting in 26 minutes; Wagner had 25 points, six boards and six assists on 8-of-19 shooting in the Magic's 31-point win.

Both players immediately set the tone offensively against a smaller Wizards squad. They both did a good job playing through contact and leveraging their size getting downhill, which is where they're most dangerous. Washington's wings were no match, point blank.

Wendell Carter Jr.'s long-range shooting continues to fly under the radar:

Jeremy Reper-Imagn Images

By now, you probably know that the Orlando Magic's shooting has been quite poor to begin the 2025-26 season. They entered the evening with the ninth-worst 3-point percentage and shot just 33.3 percent from beyond the arc (12-36) against the Wizards.

However, one player's shooting to start the season has flown under the radar: Wendell Carter Jr.

His two 3-pointers in Saturday's win gives him three-straight games with multiple triples after having just seven games with at least two made threes all of last year.

Obviously, Carter's still not shooting them on high volume. He's still not a player that defenses are accounting for from deep. But he's now 9-for-16 from distance (56.3 percent) and has shown that he's capable of knocking down open attempts above-the-break, which is a clear positive for the Magic moving forward if it continues.