Paolo Banchero comes up big for the Magic despite small numbers in a play-in win over Hawks

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Orlando's Paolo Banchero did not have a good game statistically in his first Play-In Tournament. Yet in the first quarter Tuesday night, the Magic's 22-year-old power forward showed he can dominate a game without making a shot.

“It was a fun game, a big-time game, a unique type of challenge,” said Banchero after Orlando beat the Atlanta Hawks 120-95. “I was interested to see how they were going to try to guard me. You could tell in the first quarter I was trying to get my teammates involved, moving the ball, and those guys got going. They carried us throughout the game.”

With the victory, the Magic earned the Eastern Conference’s seventh seed and will start their first-round playoff series at Boston on Sunday.

The statistical honors in Tuesday's win over Atlanta went to the Magic's Cole Anthony, who scored 26 points, and Anthony Black, who added 16. Anthony and Black finished with plus-minus differentials of 32 and 34, respectively.

'When I saw that they were doubling up and trapping, I knew that guys were going to get open looks," said Banchero, who finished with 17 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and a plus-18.

Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley saw Banchero contribute in other ways.

“They were loading up on him, and he was trying to find the right passes, and trying to get after it defensively,” Mosley said. “I think there’s little pieces of the game that go unseen, but because of how teams were playing him, he was able to make the right plays at the right time.”

Especially in the first quarter. Banchero led the Magic to a 32-17 advantage without making a shot. In the first 12 minutes, he had five rebounds and five assists and made 7 of 8 free throws.

“What carried me tonight was getting to the free throw line," Banchero said. "I was able to knock down most of my free throws, which kept me in rhythm even though I didn’t have a good night shooting.”

Banchero's first field goal came with 3:19 left in the first half and it gave the Magic their biggest lead of the game at 57-35. He finished 4 for 13 from the floor, missed all three of his 3-point shots, and was 9 for 11 from the line.

In three regular-season games against Atlanta, Banchero scored more than 30 points in each and shot 46%. The Hawks took the ball out of his hands Tuesday night, but Banchero knew where to send it.

“Anthony Black, Cole (Anthony) obviously ... everyone came in and made plays and made my job easier,” he said.

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Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero celebrates after making a shot and drawing a foul during the second half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game against the Atlanta Hawks, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero, right, is fouled by Atlanta Hawks guard Caris LeVert, left, as he goes up for a shot during the second half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) drives around Atlanta Hawks guard Vit Krejci, left, during the second half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) blocks a shot attempt by Atlanta Hawks guard Terance Mann (14) during the first half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) celebrates after teammate forward Franz Wagner made a shot against the Atlanta Hawks during the second half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) and Atlanta Hawks forward Dominick Barlow (0) go after a rebound during the first half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero, right, is defended by Boston Celtics forward Torrey Craig (12) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Kevin Kolczynski)

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The discussions have taken place in an ornate Kremlin hall, on the polished marble of St. Peter’s Basilica and in a famously contentious session in the Oval Office of the White House.

What’s emerged so far from the Washington-led effort to end the war in Ukraine suggests a deal that seems likely to be favorable to Russia: President Donald Trump has sharply rebuked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, echoed Kremlin talking points, and indicated Kyiv would have to surrender territory and forego NATO membership. What’s more, he has engaged in a rapprochement with Moscow that was unthinkable months ago.

More recently, Trump has offered mixed signals — social media posts that perhaps Russian President Vladimir Putin is stringing him along — and a deal has yet to materialize.

While the optics so far have been in the Kremlin’s favor, no proposals that were put forth have been cemented.

And on Wednesday, Washington and Kyiv signed an agreement granting American access to Ukraine’s vast mineral resources that could enable continued military aid to the country under ongoing attacks from Russia.

Zelenskyy said Thursday the deal was the first result of his “truly historic” meeting with Trump at the Vatican before the funeral of Pope Francis.

One gain for the Kremlin is that Washington is talking again to Moscow after years of extremely strained ties following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine — and not just about the war, said Nikolay Petrov, senior research fellow with the New Eurasian Strategies Centre think tank.

Russian officials and state media from the very start of discussions with Trump’s officials sought to underscore that Ukraine was only one item on the vast agenda of the “two superpowers.” Trump and Putin talked in March about Ukraine but also the Middle East, stopping the proliferation of strategic weapons and even organizing hockey games between the countries.

Russia's main state TV channel reported that the meeting between Putin and Trump envoy Steve-Witkoff showed that Moscow and Washington were building “a new structure of the world” together.

In this sense, “Putin already got a part of what he sought” — the optics of Russia as a country that is on par with the U.S., Petrov said.

Trump has said Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, “will stay with Russia,” and outlines of a peace proposal his team reportedly presented to Kyiv last month apparently included allowing Russia to keep control of other occupied Ukrainian territories. Trump, who had a contentious meeting with Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on Feb. 28, lashed out at him for publicly rejecting the idea of ceding land, and also said that Kyiv was unlikely to ever join NATO.

All of these reflect Moscow’s long-held positions, and Trump’s echoing of them suggested his administration’s vision was aligned with the Kremlin’s.

Trump also seemingly puts more pressure on Kyiv than Moscow in trying to reach a peace deal and appears eager to return to a more normal relationship with Russia and its “big business opportunities," said Sam Greene of King’s College London.

“Is there any part of this that doesn’t look like a win for Russia? No,” Greene adds.

But so far, all of this has remained nothing but rhetoric, with terms of a possible settlement still very much “in the air,” says Sergey Radchenko, a historian and a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Moreover, there are still demands by both Russia and Ukraine that would be hard to reconcile in any kind of peace settlement.

Ukraine refuses to cede any land and wants robust security guarantees against future aggression, possibly involving a contingent of peacekeepers -– something a handful of European nations have been discussing and Russia publicly rejects as a nonstarter.

Russia, in turn, demands that it holds onto the territory it has seized as well as no NATO membership for Ukraine. It also wants Kyiv to “demilitarize,” or significantly reduce its armed force.

Radchenko sees the latter as a major sticking point in peace talks, because a strong, viable army is important for Ukraine to defend itself.

“If there are restrictions on the kinds of weapons Ukraine can receive (from the West) or the size of the army, then it will be very difficult to get them to accept this sort of agreement,” he said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov seemingly raised the stakes further this week by saying that international recognition of regions annexed from Ukraine by Russia was “imperative” for a peace deal.

Achieving that remains unclear, given that dozens of countries have decried the annexations as violating international law.

Some analysts believe it is in Putin's interest to prolong the war and keep making gains on the battlefield.

Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have threatened to wash their hands of the peace effort if there is no progress soon.

Putin, in an apparent gesture of willingness to keep talking, announced this week a 72-hour ceasefire starting May 8 for Russia's Victory Day holiday that marks the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

Zelenskyy dismissed the gesture as a further attempt by Putin at “manipulation” to string along the U.S., saying a ceasefire should begin immediately and last longer.

Greene noted that the Russian ruble and markets have been doing better recently over expectations of a peace deal and U.S. businesses and investors coming back, "and there may be a price to be paid” for pulling out the rug from under that.

The larger question is what happens on the battlefield if the Trump administration withdraws from the peace effort.

“When the Trump administration says they’ll walk away, we don’t know what that means. Does that mean they walk away from negotiations and keep supporting Ukraine?” Greene said.

Greene says that Ukraine probably doesn’t feel confident that the U.S. stepping back from the process means that Washington will keep supporting Kyiv, adding that Russia may not be sure of the Trump administration ending aid, either.

“I think it’s very difficult for the Kremlin to calculate the risks of dragging this out,” he said.

And U.S. Treasury Secretary Sctott Bessent said the mineral deal "signals clearly to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term.”

A lot depends on whether Europe can step up and fill any gaps in U.S. aid.

If Trump walks away from the peace effort and still pursues normalizing relations with Russia, lifting sanctions, “this will amount to a major breakthrough” for Putin, but it's not a given, Radchenko says.

That would be an uphill battle for Trump as “there’s a lot of congressional sanctions that are predicated on the war in Ukraine,” Greene notes.

FILE - In this photo provided by Ukraine's 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Separate Mechanized Brigade press service, a soldier looks out of a shelter on the anti-drone firing position in Kostyantynivka, the site of the heavy battles with the Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, April 24, 2025. (Iryna Rybakova/Ukraine's 93rd Mechanized Brigade via AP, File)

FILE - Russian soldiers guard a pier where two Ukrainian naval vessels are moored, in Sevastopol, on the Crimean Peninsula, March 5, 2014. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Vice President JD Vance, right, speaks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, as President Donald Trump listens, in the Oval Office at the White House, Feb. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/ Mystyslav Chernov, File)

FILE - In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and President Donald Trump, talk as they attend the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, April 26, 2025.(Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP, File)

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff greet each other prior to their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, April 25, 2025. (Kristina Kormilitsyna, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE - In this combination of file photos, President Donald Trump, left, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, are seen at the Elysee Palace, Dec. 7, 2024 in Paris, and President Vladimir Putin, right, addresses a Technology Forum in Moscow, Feb. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, left and center, Pavel Bednyakov, right, File)