The [Dallas Mavericks beat the Orlando Magic 101-92 Thursday night in Orlando](https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2025/3/27/24395592/mavericks-magic-recap-final-score-101-92-jaden-hardy-paulo-banchero-dallas-orlando). An undersized Dallas team played really well against Orlando’s monstrous front line, and the Mavericks offense, even in this diminished state, was too much for the Magic.
Jaden Hardy led the Mavericks with 22 points off the bench, Paolo Banchero led the Magic with a game-high 35 points. It was a low-scoring, rough-and-tumble affair for most of the night, until the Mavericks offense woke up in the third quarter and built a lead too big for the Magic’s bad offense to respond to.
This win puts the Mavericks back ahead of the Suns in the play-in race. Here are the numbers to know.
5: Amount of three pointers made by Jaden Hardy, entire Magic team
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Hardy was spectacular off the bench with a game-high 22 points. He went 5-of-6 from three, including a rather fortunate final make late in the fourth quarter that bounced on the rim three times before falling home. The Magic as a team made 5-of-30 from three.
That’s 16.7 percent, which is awful. Like that’s really bad, guys. Orlando entered the night the worst three point shooting team in the league, just over 31 percent for the season and that number dropped even further after tonight’s putrid showing. There wasn’t much Dallas could do against Orlando in the paint (although the Magic only had 48 points there), but they certainly weren’t scared of the Magic from deep. Dallas easily won the three point shooting battle despite only taking 23 threes, making 11 three pointers as a team.
10: Offensive rebounds for the Magic
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Considering Orlando missed 46 total shots tonight, the fact that their huge front court could only muster 10 offensive rebounds is honestly a huge reason why the Mavericks won this game, besides the three point shooting. Orlando had every opportunity to beat Dallas up on the glass and while the Mavericks lost the rebounding battle, it wasn’t a resounding defeat.
Everyone chipped in for the Mavericks to battle on the boards. No one on the Mavericks had more than Anthony Davis’ seven, but six Mavericks had at least four rebounds, and nine had at least three, and every Maverick that played had at least two. That’s team-rebounding at its finest, and it kept the Mavericks connected throughout the game.
+21: Brandon Williams plus-minus against the Magic
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Individual box score plus-minus is a faulty stat to evaluate, but sometimes it’s obviously right — like it was for Brandon Williams tonight.
The two-way guard had 14 points and six assists off the bench in one his final games left of NBA eligibility. He was a huge factor for all 27 of his minutes, and was better than any other Magic guard tonight, including their starters. Williams energy and ability to slash into the lane was much needed and the Magic couldn’t match his tempo. Another big night for one of the Mavericks unsung heroes.