Great players forge their mark during the regular season, but legacies are crafted in the postseason. Luckily for former Blue Devil Paolo Banchero, that latter part doesn’t seem to be a problem.
Banchero, who now plays for the Orlando Magic, scored a team-high 27 points on Thursday night as the Magic defeated Cleveland on their home court to force a winner-take-all Game 7.
The former Blue Devil, whom Orlando picked No. 1 overall in the 2022 NBA draft, went 9/20 from the floor and 7/10 from the free-throw line for the game. He’s only six games into his playoff career, but Banchero is already stacking statement performances.
In Game 3, after back-to-back losses to open the series, Banchero offered up a 31-point, 14-rebound double-double for Orlando’s first win. In Game 5, despite the Magic losing by a single point, Banchero scored a playoff-career-high 39 points and shot 14/24 from the floor.
Across the first six games of his postseason career, Banchero is averaging 25.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 4.3 assists. That’s the 14th-highest scoring average in the NBA playoffs this year, ahead of names like fellow Duke star Jayson Tatum (21.8), James Harden (21.2), Paul George (19.5), and Tyrese Haliburton (16.0). He’s shooting 47.9% from the floor and 38.2% from beyond the arc.
It’s also worth keeping in mind that Banchero is still just 21 years old. His 151 points through his first six career playoff games are a Magic franchise record, a team that saw the start of legends like Shaquille O’Neal, Dwight Howard, and Penny Hardaway.
Paolo Banchero is in great company 😳 pic.twitter.com/ttHAS1g9u1
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 3, 2024
It remains to be seen whether Banchero’s heroics can lift Orlando to the second round, but he’s flashing his potential as a future league-defining star.