Paolo Banchero promised to deliver in Game 3, then backed it up: 'He did his thing'

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Paolo Banchero doesn't talk a whole lot.

So when he does speak, his words have impact.

Over the last few days, with the Cleveland Cavaliers threatening to sweep his Orlando Magic out of the playoffs' first round, Banchero wanted his teammates to know they could count on him.

"I'm with you," he often said. "I'm with you."

On Thursday night, in a game the Magic had to win, Banchero didn't just stand beside his pals. He led them to a 121-83 blowout victory that cut their series deficit to 2-1. Making difficult shot after difficult shot, Banchero scored 31 points and collected 14 rebounds, both game highs.

"He's a winner," Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said. "That's who he is. We challenged them today to go after some more rebounds, and he did it. That's the thing about him: He's going to find whatever way necessary to help his team win."

Banchero left little doubt from the outset that he intended to bend Game 3 to his will. He took five of his team's first eight shots, and he missed them all. He remembered later that those shots went awry because he felt too much adrenaline.

It took a circus shot to get him rolling. Midway through the first quarter, he posted up on Cavaliers 7-footer Evan Mobley and, with almost no room to maneuver, Banchero tilted backward on his right leg and hoisted a high-arching shot over Mobley that swished through the net.

"It wasn't even supposed to go in," Banchero said. "I was really trying to get a foul. But I was like, 'OK, I've got it going from here.'"

Banchero sank 11 of his last 17 shots, unleashing an arsenal of turnaround jumpers, fadeaways and 3s.

Banchero already has an All-Star appearance on his résumé, but he freely admitted Thursday night that the rigors of playoff basketball feel like an unprecedented challenge. In that sense, the 21-year-old bruiser resembles other key members of Orlando's nucleus. This is the NBA first postseason for Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs, Wendell Carter Jr. and Cole Anthony, too. As they looked to each other for reassurance, the phrase "I'm with you" carried extra meaning.

Then Banchero backed up his words with actions.

"That's 'Playoff P' right there," Anthony said in the Magic's postgame locker room. "Shoot, he did his thing. He had a couple cold baskets where I was just like, 'Dang!' … He was taking the stepback, fadeaway 21-footers on the baseline. I'm like, 'Yeah, this kid's different.'"

The Magic received valuable contributions throughout their rotation.

In an attempt to keep Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen off the boards, Mosley altered his starting lineup, slotting in Carter in up front in place of Jonathan Isaac. Carter grabbed five rebounds, but his physical presence and box outs helped keep Allen under wraps.

"I thought he did a great job out there," Mosley said of Carter. "A lot of his stuff doesn't show up in the stat sheet. But I think he did a great job battling on the boards, keeping Jarrett off the glass a little bit, being physical in his hits."

In the series' first two games, Suggs had shot a combined 6 of 21 from the field and 1 of 10 from beyond the arc. He finally found his rhythm Thursday, with a 9-of-11 shooting night that included 3 of 5 accuracy from deep. He also set a tone with his perimeter defense.

"What we did tonight was special," Suggs said.

Nothing was more special than Banchero's night, though.

"He hit a couple of tough-ass shots in the second quarter," center Moritz Wagner said. "He gave us some relief offensively, but I think defensively we were so solid as we'd been in those two games in Cleveland as well. So, to be able to keep that focus up is huge for us. We're going to score, I know it."

It's worth noting that the start of Game 3 resembled the beginnings of the two games in Cleveland. Once again, the Cavaliers took an early lead, scoring the game's first six points. And once again, the Magic couldn't hit a shot, opening the game with nine consecutive misses.

Banchero set a defiant tone: He kept shooting with confidence, and his teammates seemed to follow suit.

"The moment he stepped into his first shot (and) it didn't go in, there was no hesitation to his next one," Mosley said. "And I think that's the sign of a young man who's continued to get better, continued to grow into who he is becoming, that he does not let a make or a miss rattle what he's doing. And then you saw the result down the stretch. He was fantastic."

Just as the home crowd propelled the Cavaliers in the opening two games of the series, the Magic received a boost from their fans on Thursday. The announced sellout crowd of 18,846 was arguably the loudest crowd from start to finish of a game in Kia Center's 14-year history. Orlando seemed to corral every loose ball.

"You knew they were going to come out and play hard," Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. "But it was the first quarter where they set the tone."

The tone started after the Magic returned home from Cleveland, with Banchero promising his teammates he would give them his best effort.

It's been a long time since one of the team's players carried the franchise on his back in a playoff game. Dwight Howard and Hedo Türkoğlu had special performances throughout Orlando's run to the 2009 NBA Finals.

And on Thursday, Banchero followed in their footsteps.

"The shot making, that was pretty special," Franz Wagner said. "Extremely tough shots, some against two defenders. It makes the game pretty easy for the rest of us."

Required reading

• Cavs' loss was alarming, but not because of the score

(Top photo of Paolo Banchero: Mike Watters / USA Today)