Banchero delivers debut not seen since LeBron's

DETROIT -- Orlando Magic rookie Paolo Banchero collected 27 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists successful his NBA debut Wednesday night, a 113-109 loss to the Detroit Pistons, making him the archetypal rookie with 25-5-5 successful his archetypal crippled since LeBron James successful 2003.

"It means a lot, I guess," Banchero said aft the game. "Obviously, would person liked to win. But I conscionable wanted to play hard, play for the team, and that happened, truthful it's a blessing."

Banchero, the No. 1 prime successful the 2022 NBA draft, made an interaction close away. He scored Orlando's archetypal 4 points and finished the archetypal 4th 3-for-3 connected tract goals for 7 points. He was adjacent amended successful the 4th fourth arsenic Orlando tried to equine a comeback, going 5-for-8 for 13 points, including a ferocious one-handed dunk implicit Pistons defender Cory Joseph, who attempted to gully a charge.

Banchero scored the astir points by a Magic subordinate successful his archetypal vocation crippled successful squad history, outscoring erstwhile players specified arsenic Penny Hardaway, Shaquille O'Neal and Dwight Howard, each of whom registered 12 points successful their debuts.

"It's crazy," Banchero said. "I felt similar I near a batch of points connected the board.

"Credit to my teammates for uncovering me. It's ever bully to spot the shot get successful that early, get casual buckets astir the rim. That's however I effort to play, wrong out. Try to get casual worldly astir the handbasket and grow retired and bash much worldly passim the game."

Before boarding the formation from Orlando to Detroit, Banchero said helium tried to bespeak successful the infinitesimal earlier his archetypal authoritative NBA crippled to not let himself to get caught up during Wednesday's action. This matchup betwixt the Pistons and Magic featured a postulation of erstwhile apical draught picks, including Pistons guards Cade Cunningham, the 2021 No. 1 prime who finished with 18 points and 10 assists, and Jaden Ivey, the 2022 No. 5 prime who scored 19 points with 4 assists and 3 steals successful his debut.

Orlando had 3 players property 21 oregon younger -- Banchero, Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner -- people 20 points, the archetypal squad successful NBA past to bash truthful successful a play opener.

"We're some ace young. We're some trying to find our mode to the apical of the league," Cunningham said astir the Pistons and Magic. "This was a large crippled for america to acceptable the code arsenic acold arsenic that matchup. We're going to beryllium seeing them a batch for years to come."

Banchero, 19, was the game's starring scorer, tallying the astir points by a No. 1 wide prime since Allen Iverson scored 30 points successful his debut successful 1996.

"He handled himself precise well," Suggs said. "He got to his spots. He ran successful transition. He was physical. He boarded. He made the close play erstwhile it was there. Paolo did a fantastic occupation tonight. We're going to proceed to thrust with him, we're going to proceed to grow, and moments similar this are important for us. We got to beryllium successful this to grow, and helium showed america a batch tonight."