Orlando Magic back down in the fourth quarter again

As the Orlando Magic try to build a winning culture and momentum for the offseason, they still cannot get over their worst enemy — the fourth quarter.

Evan Fournier seemingly walked off the court in disgust. He was shaking his head as the final buzzer sounded and the New York Knicks celebrated a victory with the multitude of fans wearing orange and blue inside the Amway Center following Monday’s 113-105 loss.

Everyone certainly could be shaking their head trying to figure out what happened again. A little more than 24 hours earlier, the Orlando Magic saw a 15-point lead entering the fourth quarter evaporate to the Washington Wizards behind John Wall and Bojan Bogdanovic.

That was on the road against one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. They hoped it was a blip on the radar. To build their winning culture, they needed to recover.

And it looked like they would against the Knicks. The Magic scored the first 11 points of the game and led by as much as 14 points at home. Orlando led the majority of the game and hit a 3-pointer to go up seven entering the final quarter.

The Magic simply dropped the ball from there.

The Knicks scored 28 points while holding the Magic to 13 in the final 12 minutes. Orlando shot a measly 3 for 17 in the fourth quarter and just 1 of 11 from beyond the arc. There was no respite for Orlando.

The Magic offense quickly became stuck and the Knicks picked up all the momentum behind energetic play from Kyle O’Quinn (11 points, eight rebounds in the quarter alone) and Chasson Randle. Courtney Lee put the finishing touches.

Orlando started the quarter up seven. The Magic would at one point trail by 12, giving up a 22-4 run to start the quarter. It was a whirlwind turnaround that only leaves questions for the Magic, halting all talk of positive momentum. Three quarters does not make a victory.

"“It’s tough, but we deserve it,” Evan Fournier said after the game. “They just played more aggressive. I thought the problem from the last five minutes was definitely defense. They played with more energy. Their execution was better. On our end, offensively, it was not bad, but it wasn’t good enough to close the game. That’s the difference tonight.”"

Orlando receded into something of a shell on both ends as New York attacked. All of the Magic’s confidence seemed to disappear.

The Magic built their lead by scrambling well on defense and challenging shots. They turned those misses into breakout opportunities.

Since the All-Star Break, the Magic have improved their ball movement and transition play. Their activity and energy defensively are noticeably up. They appear aesthetically to be a better team.

That has helped the Magic make an early dent in games and provide some hope this style can be something sustainable. The early statistical returns were good for the Magic. Even through five games, the team had a positive net rating.

It makes these fourth quarter collapses and failures to close games more frustrating.

Orlando Magic

Things can only look up to a point. At some point, the Magic have to win these games.

"“Every loss is excruciating at this point,” coach Frank Vogel said. “It’s not fun. We’re doing some good things and we’re trying to be encouraged by that and optimistic and positive. But these are two tough losses when you have double digit leads and you surrender them late in the games.”"

The losses lately have been especially excruciating. Orlando is 2-4 since the All-Star Break. Three of those four losses have come with the Magic leading in the fourth quarter.

Vogel said after the Magic lost to the Portland Trail Blazers two weeks ago, that loss is exactly what the Magic had to try to avoid if they want to build a winning culture. In that game, Orlando had an eight-point lead entering the final quarter only to see Damian Lillard score 17 points and lead Portland to a win.

These two games — both at home — were eerily similar. The Magic controlled the game throughout and held a comfortable lead. And yet were undone.

Fourth quarters this year have not been kind.

The Magic are the worst team in fourth quarters this year by net rating. The team has a league-worst 98.1 offensive rating in the fourth quarter and a -7.4 net rating. The Magic’s defense remains relatively normal, but their offensive shortcomings seem to become accentuated late in games.

Since the All-Star Break, things are even worse in the fourth quarter.

The Magic have a 91.8 offensive rating and a 125.9 defensive rating in the fourth quarter in the six games since the All-Star Break. That is the worst net rating in the league for that time period.

"“We’ve got to do a better job sustaining our runs,” Elfrid Payton said. “Teams are going to go on a run. It is a game of runs. We’ve just got to find a way to stop the bleeding.”"

The Magic never stopped the bleeding Monday. It seemed every time the Knicks made their push, the Magic could not push back. And the tension seemed to get tighter.

Orlando did get good shots in the fourth quarter. And the team missed them. Only making matters worse.

This is the part that is missing for the Magic.

Learning how to win is not easy. And it clearly is not something that comes natural to this team. They do not have a closer like in Damian Lillard. And it does not seem the Magic can build energy naturally like the Knicks seemingly were able to do in going to Kyle O’Quinn out of their bullpen.

Next: Grades: New York Knicks 113, Orlando Magic 105

Whatever lessons Orlando needs to learn they need to learn them quickly. Because they are not learning them this way, it would seem. The team still struggles in these critical moments.