Orlando Magic lament missed opportunities in loss to Indiana Pacers

The Orlando Magic had the opportunities to defeat the Indiana Pacers on Sunday, but let them get away in another close and disappointing loss.

There are all these little plays throughout a game that add up in the end.

A failed lob to Victor Oladipo in transition in the fourth quarter. A missed free throw late. Failing to convert on 17 forced turnovers, an Orlando Magic team record tying a mark set in 2006, in the first half and going to the locker room tied.

Undoubtedly the focus drew sharper on those opportunities missed at the end of the game.

Nikola Vucevic stepping to the line with the Magic down by two points and 30.2 seconds left and splitting the pair. The Magic struggling again to get the ball inbounds after a timeout before Brandon Jennings neither could get the pocket pass to Vucevic on the pick and roll or drive himself, forcing him to find Victor Oladipo on the wing.

Oladipo gave a pretty convincing pump fake to draw Monta Ellis in the air. Oladipo took the bump and shot it hoping for a foul, not taking his dribble or the empty lane in front of him. The shot fell off and the Magic would fall to the Indiana Pacers 105-102 at Amway Center on Sunday, leaving all those opportunities still on the table.

Monta Ellis (IND) — 21 pts.; Jordan Hill (IND) — 13 pts., 10 rebs.
Evan Fournier (ORL) — 23 pts.; Nikola Vucevic (ORL) — 19 pts., 13 rebs.

Oladipo said he was trying to draw a foul and he felt he got hit. But he said next time he knows not to put that call in the referee’s hands.

Another missed opportunity and another subtle mistake for a team still trying to eke out these close games consistently.

“I think we made too many little mistakes, especially defensively,” Victor Oladipo said. “Too many free throws. I think those are the two main things.

“We’ve got to help ourselves in that area, especially at the free throw line and making easy buckets as well. It’s tough. We’ve got to learn from it and move on.”

The Magic left plenty of opportunities on the floor even before those final possessions. Plenty enough to leave coach Scott Skiles a bit steamed afterward.

Despite committing 17 turnovers in the first half and the Magic doing a good job being active in passing lanes and helping from the weak side, the Pacers were still able to shoot 55.9 percent. Orlando shot just 36.0 percent and missed 15 of 25 shots in the paint in the first half.

Those were all missed opportunities again that everyone could point to. Nikola Vucevic missed a few easy tip ins. Beautiful passes were caught and the shots around the rim flubbed. Even layups were missed. Both Elfrid Payton and Brandon Jennings missed easy opportunities.

“We definitely missed a lot of bunnies,” Aaron Gordon said. “I missed a few. And missed free throws. Down the stretch it comes back and it bites you. That’s what happened tonight.”

In the end, Orlando shot 21 for 41 in the paint and just 20 for 40 in the restricted area. The team struggled to shoot at 41.8 percent and began throwing the ball around. The Pacers went from fortunate to be in the game to trying to figure out why they were not up more.

Still the Magic kept themselves in it. Their defense, particularly through much of the fourth quarter was solid and the offense was moving well off the ball and creating opportunities to score. The Magic got into the bonus very early in the fourth quarter, helping them get to 15 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter.

Of course, even that came with a double-edged sword. The Magic missed six of those attempts. And all seven 3-point attempts in the fourth quarter. Even with a lot of assists, this was a game where the Magic were not particularly sharp on offense.

“We just didn’t play a real professional game beginning to end,” coach Scott Skiles said. “We had a chance to win. It almost seemed like a miracle that we did. The missed layups, the missed free throws, a ton of busted defensive coverages, the turnovers, throwing up silly lobs on the break. We still had a chance to win, again I thought miraculously, but we couldn’t take advantage of it.”

The Magic were solid in between those moments. They put themselves in a position to win. But they left a lot on the table.

There was still opportunity. Plenty of opportunity.

The Pacers turned the ball over enough to give the Magic a chance to run away with things. And Orlando could not. The Pacers got into the penalty early and the Magic missed free throws.

They never let themselves get too far away. They were never trailing by more than four points. The Magic just could not extend the lead when the Pacers were not sharp.

Scott Skiles said he does not want to second guess the split-second decisions made late on one play. He said he would have preferred Oladipo drive the ball, but trusts his players to make those calls on the floor. Regardless, Oladipo got himself an open look and failed to make it. That is something any team can live with.

What they cannot live with is missing opportunities to strike when they present themselves and the self-inflicted wounds that occur to turn those away.

The Magic had plenty of energy and when they were focusing that energy enough execution to take advantage.

“It wasn’t that we weren’t trying to fight for at the end,” Skiles said. “It’s just normally when you play that way, it’s going to catch up to you. You might win a couple games a year when you playing that way where a ball bounces your way or you bang a three or something occurs where you can steal a game. We feel like they were kind of ripe to be beaten tonight and we didn’t take advantage.”

Next: Brandon Jennings, Ersan Ilyasova fit right in for first game

It caught up to the Magic Sunday and the opportunity for a big win got away.