{"id":134034,"date":"2025-04-13T17:46:20","date_gmt":"2025-04-13T21:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=134034"},"modified":"2025-04-13T17:46:20","modified_gmt":"2025-04-13T21:46:20","slug":"magic-anthony-black-career-game-regular-season-finale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/13\/magic-anthony-black-career-game-regular-season-finale\/","title":{"rendered":"Magic Lotto Pick Has Career Game In Regular Season Finale"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On the heels of recording 21 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and two steals in a blowout win against the Indiana Pacers, Orlando Magic guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/blackan01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Black<\/a> just had another stellar performance. Though his team would fall to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wallake01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Keaton Wallace<\/a>-led Atlanta Hawks, the 2023 No. 6 had his first career double-double in the 2024-25 NBA regular season finale. Starting for the 10th time this season, Black finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds, three steals, two assists, and one block in 36.5 minutes.<\/p>\n<h2>Magic&#8217;s Anthony Black Has Career Game In Regular Season Finale<\/h2>\n<p>Wallace, who\u2019s on a two-way contract, was able to secure <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/13\/hawks-keaton-wallace-triple-doubles-saves-best-for-last\/\" target=\"_self\">his first career triple-double<\/a> during the Hawks victory. However, Black helped hold the undrafted guard to 7-20 shooting from the field (35.0 percent) and 1-7 shooting from 3 (14.3 percent). At the same time, he was able to go 7-16 from the field (43.8 percent) and 3-5 from 3 (60.0 percent).<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Anthony Black pull-up stepback three <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Z8azPPtpIm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/Z8azPPtpIm<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 The Magic Way (@MagicFilmRoom) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MagicFilmRoom\/status\/1911483663046590532?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Having struggled to find the mark from behind the arc this season, his outside shooting was particularly remarkable.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Anthony Black triple cuts the deficit down to 6 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/R1Xe0gpS3e\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/R1Xe0gpS3e<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 The Magic Way (@MagicFilmRoom) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MagicFilmRoom\/status\/1911487575434674230?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>That being said, Black continues to demonstrate scoring upside when he gets in the paint.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Anthony Black wonderful layup after the spin move <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qyDoWYrQpr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/qyDoWYrQpr<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 The Magic Way (@MagicFilmRoom) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MagicFilmRoom\/status\/1911493214521180501?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>As he continues to add strength and skill, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/22\/magic-lottery-pick-anthony-black-warcraft\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">this aspect of his game<\/a> could be the key to him being a star. Right now though, his inconsistency as a shot-creator is what\u2019s holding him back from being a full-time starter. At this juncture, team leaders <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/banchpa01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paolo Banchero<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wagnefr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Franz Wagner<\/a> can\u2019t do all the heavy lifting offensively. They need a third option, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/suggsja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Suggs<\/a> prior to his <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/04\/orlando-magic-jalen-suggs-injury-miss-rest-season\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">season-ending quad injury<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Black is trending in the right direction though. Largely making plays off-ball as a rookie, he only had two games scoring 15 or more points. This season, he has 16 games scoring 15 or more points, a reflection of him becoming more assertive with the ball in his hands. Nominally a point guard, the 6-foot-7 sophomore also has 18 games with five or more assists. With that in mind, he has real potential to be a two-way force in the NBA.<\/p>\n<p>Though he didn&#8217;t face the stiffest competition with the Hawks resting their stars, games like Sunday&#8217;s can help people keep faith that he will be.<\/p>\n<h3>In The Meantime&#8230;<\/h3>\n<p>It&#8217;s always fun to take the long view of a player&#8217;s career.<\/p>\n<p>However, what&#8217;s more pressing for the Magic is the impending postseason. In the Play-In Tournament, they&#8217;ll get a rematch against Atlanta, who they&#8217;re 2-2 against in 2024-25. With that being said, Black is in a good rhythm and the Hawks&#8217; defense isn&#8217;t great as a whole. However, they have great parts.<\/p>\n<p>Defensive Player of the Year candidate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/daniedy01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dyson Daniels<\/a> is likely to be Banchero&#8217;s primary defender. 2024 No. 1 pick <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/risacza01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zaccharie Risacher<\/a> is better suited to guard Wagner. With that in mind, as previously alluded to, having a player like Black to take the pressure off of Banchero and Wagner would be welcomed.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, defenses will attempt to fly around and rotate. Nevertheless, their focus will be on stopping Orlando&#8217;s top dogs. Thus, Black will have the opportunity to play off-ball or take advantage of weaker defenders when they share the court.<\/p>\n<p>Along with the scoring-minded <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/anthoco01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cole Anthony<\/a>, he could be the x-factor offensively. When factoring in his multi-positional defense, he may even prove essential to their win.<\/p>\n<div class=\"modal-image-setImageMetadata\">\n<p class=\"ng-binding\">\u00a9 Dale Zanine-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On the heels of recording 21 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and two steals in a blowout win against the Indiana Pacers, Orlando Magic guard Anthony Black just had another stellar performance. Though his team would fall to the Keaton Wallace-led Atlanta Hawks, the 2023 No. 6 had his first career double-double in the 2024-25 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":134054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,4,1608,62,3],"tags":[4755,4127,596,3823],"class_list":["post-134034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-magic","category-hawks","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","tag-anthony-black","tag-franz-wagner","tag-nba-playoffs","tag-paolo-banchero"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134034"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134055,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134034\/revisions\/134055"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}