Magic’s Jamahl Mosley claps back at Paolo Banchero’s ‘adjustments’ claim

The Orlando Magic’s 106-92 loss against Cade Cunningham’s Detroit Pistons was their second defeat in a row, with both coming despite comprehensive leads after the first half. Against the Houston Rockets, they returned from the second quarter with a 10-point lead, and against Detroit, they were seven before unravelling in the third quarter.

Speaking post-game, star man Paolo Banchero had suggested that the Magic did not adjust to the changes their opponents were making in the second half. Now, head coach Jamahl Mosley appeared to directly hit back, claiming that the only change the Pistons made was that they played ‘harder,’ per a post on X by Magic beat reporter Jason Beede.

#Magic coach Jamahl Mosley was asked after practice about Paolo Banchero’s post-game comments regarding 2nd-half adjustments:

“The one adjustment that Detroit made last night — they just played a little harder. … There was no schematic adjustment that they made.”

Full remarks: https://t.co/W53dsSxFCE pic.twitter.com/3A4gf6Br8y

— Jason Beede (@therealBeede) March 2, 2026

“Yeah, I think the one adjustment that Detroit made last night, they just played a little harder. They got into the ball, they grabbed at it a little bit more, they clogged the paint a little bit more and our decisions became slower because there were a lot of gaps. There was no schematic adjustment that they made. It was more or less (along) the lines, they did turn up their defensive heat a lot more,” he said, appearing to put the responsibility straight back onto his players.

Mosley went in detail, claiming that the game was lost in transition.

“If you look at the third quarter, they had about two or three blocks at the rim. They turned us over. They built walls in transition. As we were getting downhill in that first half, they were building a bigger wall than we were able to get downhill in those situations. And then they did a great job of getting downhill offensively after we had turned that basketball over or they got a block at the rim.”

Paolo Banchero lamented lack of adjustment in Detroit loss

Banchero was not necessarily shirking responsibility and wanted better communication from his teammates in order to respond to their opponents changing tactics mid-game. Asked about what could have avoided the loss, Banchero cited better communication.

“Just being more organized. Being able to communicate with each other, what we’re trying to do. Teams, a lot of times, adjust at halftime and I think that’s why we struggled a lot in the second half just cause we don’t really adjust to their adjustments. So, that’s when we need to see how they’re playing us and we just need to clearly communicate to each other what it is that we need to do, particularly offensively, to fight those runs and continue to play good basketball,” he said.

The Magic will now host the Washington Wizards in their bid to avoid a hat-trick of losses. They are still 7th in the Eastern Conference with a 31-28 record, but have the likes of the Miami Heat, the Atlanta Hawks and the Charlotte Hornets in close pursuit.

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