Process finally trumps results for Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic have been mired in the focus on the results, letting bad plays affect overall effort and execution. Monday showed signs of change.

The greatest idea Gregg Popovich brought to his San Antonio Spurs, the team the Orlando Magic are trying to emulate and the team they will play Wednesday night to complete this two-game road trip, is to value process over results.

It does not matter if the shot goes through. If you work together and get a good shot, the process of doing so will, over time, create the results you want.

This is how systems are established and this is how good teams stay great for a long, long time.

It can be hard for a young player on a young team to think about that. They do not know what good results in the league mean. Very few key players on the Magic right now have that experience of winning and sustained success. There is still trust that needs to be built in the process (whatever that might be) that Jacque Vaughn wants to build.

It was easy to see the team fraying some in that process these last few games. The Magic fell behind by 20-plus points quickly and were looking lifeless.

Tonight, Orlando started off fast offensively. The team moved the ball quickly and attacked the basket. Even if the shots did not fall or Serge Ibaka or Steven Adams changed the shot too much, there was an aggression and energy that has been severely lacking of late.

That has to mean something, right? The team showed fight. It trusted a system to get it through offensively and they tried defensively, even if the discipline was not completely there.

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For one game, at least, the process ruled. The results never came — the Magic shot 6 of 23 from beyond the arc, making 2 of their first 17, and many of those were open looks that just would not come.

Yet, despite Orlando failing offensively — the team shot 42.2 percent overall and were worse than one point per possession tonight — the team kept up the effort and kept up the energy.

Were things perfect? Far from it.

The Thunder shot 49.3 percent from the floor and turned 14 turnovers into 24 points. The Magic were too loose with the ball around the perimeter and the uber-aggressive Russell Westbrook took advantage by applying pressure and relying on Serge Ibaka to clean things up in the paint, which he largely could.

The moments the Magic looked crisp on offense were matched by slow play and an early diet of Nikola Vucevic post ups that just would not work.

Orlando’s strategy of outscoring Oklahoma City was always doomed to fail even without Kevin Durant in the lineup. That is just not how to win games. Until the team figures out how to play defense, the Magic are going to continue to lose games, even when they do good things.

Mired in a nine-game losing streak and facing questions about the team’s coach, the Magic could use just about any positive they can find.

Here was a game where the effort never wavered. Here was a game where the team stuck to their guns offensive through poor shooting and frustrating results. Here was a team that got better defensively and played with a consistent effort.

Orlando dug down and gave it its best. Even when the defense played well, the Thunder made shots. There was no frustration as there were so many times the past few weeks.

That is progress, right? That is a sign of belief in the process, right?

At some point the results are bound to come. The Magic got the shots they wanted and built the process right for one night.

Of course, the trick is doing it again the next night and begin patient with it to make the results happen again. Not an easy thing to do. Not with this team so inconsistent and able to do so.

And the trust in the system has certainly eroded as the team has continued to fall and fall.

Maybe they have hit the bottom and are starting to climb back out. We will not know after one game. And the comparison from previous games was a low bar to clear. They cleared that bar and played well enough not to get blown out, feeling the slow burn of a good team trouncing a bad team.

There will be a time when the results will come. For now, the Magic have to believe in a process that will get them opportunities. They did that for one night in Oklahoma City. Can they do it again and actually build?