East Notes: Magic, Paolo Banchero, Pacers, Myles Turner, Wizards

Magic

Rookie power forward Paolo Banchero, the No. 1 overall pick, was fantastic in his debut, recording 27points, nine rebounds and five assists in a hard-fought loss to the Pistons.

That made Banchero the first rookie to post a 25-5-5 line since LeBron James did it with the Cavaliers back in 2003.

“It means a lot, I guess,” Banchero said, via Jamal Collier of ESPN. “Obviously, would have liked to win. But I just wanted to play hard, play for the team, and that happened, so it’s a blessing.”

Along with that, Banchero scored the most points by a Magic rookie in his first game — more than the likes of Shaquille O’Neal, Penny Hardaway or Dwight Howard, as Collier noted.

“It’s crazy,” Banchero said, via Collier. “I felt like I left a lot of points on the board.

“Credit to my teammates for finding me. It’s always nice to see the ball get in that early, get easy buckets around the rim. That’s how I try to play, inside out. Try to get easy stuff around the basket and expand out and do more stuff throughout the game.”

Pacers

Center Myles Turner is expected to miss at least a week after suffering a left ankle sprain during warmups, as we relayed here. Turner is hoping to return for the Pacers’ five-game Eastern trip next week, per Wilson Moore of the Indianapolis Star.

“It’s unfortunate, man,” Turner said, via Scott Agness of FieldHouse Files. “Definitely not the way I want to start the season off.”

Wizards

• Coach Wes Unseld Jr. said he expects forward Deni Avdija and forward/center Kristaps Porzingis to start in the Wizards’ home opener Friday vs. the Bulls, via Ava Wallace of The Washington Post.
• Avdija has a right ankle sprain and Porzingis rolled his left ankle during the season-opening win over the Pacers. X-rays on Avdija’s injury revealed “nothing serious,” per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
• Rookie guard Johnny Davis did not play in the opener, as Unseld and the Wizards plan to bring him along slowly, per Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington.