Orlando Magic’s success is far from guaranteed, their weaknesses are still apparent

The Orlando Magic’s good feeling throughout the preseason came crashing down as the team’s weaknesses exposed how fragile success might be.

Aaron Gordon appeared to understand what had just occurred on the floor of the Amway Center as the Orlando Magic made their home debut.

It was a wake-up call. One that sometimes occurs during the preseason when it is easy to let attention waver and teams are still figuring themselves out.

Aaron Gordon and the Magic had things so easy through the first three preseason games. They moved smoothly through defenses, playing with an intensity other teams could not reach. They swarmed and coaxed teams into turnovers with their length and precision.

Inevitably, teams would catch up with their progress in camp. Inevitably, the Magic would slip as they did not have the practice to reinforce good habits. Inevitably, those weaknesses would come through.

Gordon said after the game that the Orlando Magic’s 100-75 loss to the Boston Celtics, in which the team trailed 24-2 right off the bat, would serve as a wake-up call for the team. A humbling lesson for a team that was seemingly riding high.

A lesson that this team is not a finished product. There is still so much work to do.

Nobody is about to overreact to a preseason defeat. That is the most important thing. Even one as bad as this is not about to send anyone into a panic. Everyone with the Magic understands what this is.

Ultimately, this was a game that exposed some of the Magic’s weaknesses. The loss was a reminder that success this season is far from guaranteed.

As coach Steve Clifford put it at media day, continuity and familiarity are only as good as the team makes it. And after dominating the first three games with that familiarity, it seemed like things were easy and the team could coast on it.

But that is far from the case. Those games were good but showed things Orlando had to work on in the short-term. The loss to the Celtics showed some of the bigger issues this Magic team might face.

It started with Aaron Gordon as he took the lead for the team.

With Nikola Vucevic out with a sprained ankle, Aaron Gordon took on the mantle of the primary scorer. He missed his first 13 shots as he tried to force his way to the basket and overdribbled. This was Gordon giving in to some of his worst nature.

Combine that with just missing shots on an off-night for him, and it tended toward disaster.

Orlando has better depth. But this is still a team that needs to share the ball and move the ball to score. They lack a go-to scorer and the Magic feed off each other for their success, rather than having a singular player driving them forward.

The missed shots themselves — Orlando shot 31.3 percent for the game — led to another emerging problem for the team.

Clifford has not been pleased with his team’s transition defense throughout the preseason. Their general organization in transition has not been up to par as they try to increase the pace offensively. That will lead to some break-neck basketball. The Magic have to find a way to be sharp even at a faster pace.

The team’s need for progress on that end was on full display. The Celtics were able to take all those Magic misses and get out in transition and catch the Magic before their defense could get set.

Boston shot better than 50 percent in the first half when Orlando’s starters primarily played. But the team was able to get the offense back under control. Albeit, the game was already out of hand.

The Celtics staked that lead and that high shooting percentage thanks to 27 fast-break points. Boston was able to get out in transition, find mismatches and pass their way to the open man as the Magic scrambled to recover.

Orlando’s efforts to pick up their pace and get out in transition more is certainly admirable. It certainly can help this offense and has helped this offense. But the flip side of that is it gives the other team possessions. And often misses in transition can lead to run out and transition opportunities the other way.

This is what happened against the Celtics. Even against the Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons, the Orlando Magic struggled with this. But they were able to corral those teams. The Celtics were able to pick apart the Magic’s scrambling defense.

When Clifford says he wants his team to be better organized. This is part of what he means. Everyone has to know their assignments and put in the first and second efforts to cover for each other. From there, they can get settled into their defense. And in the half-court, their defense is still strong.

With nagging injuries racking the Magic’s roster too, it is also beginning to be clear how precarious this puzzle is. Orlando is just as likely to face offensive struggles that could lead to blowouts like this as they are to click and blowout opponents.

The regular season will bring a ratchet up in intensity. It is easy to ease off the throttle when the game gets out of hand in the preseason.

And in the preseason, the team is likely trying to work on things that go beyond winning and losing the basketball game. The experimenting the Magic tried early in Friday’s game may have failed spectacularly, but it is not likely to be how they ultimately attack when the regular season begins.

One game is not going to erase anything the Magic have done. It is not going to change expectations. Especially for veteran players like Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier, this is hardly the time to draw sweeping conclusions about the season. The team still has time to round into form — and a week full of practices after Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers to correct things before a final tuneup.

The Magic certainly are not doing that. They are not overly panicked about a poor preseason performance. Especially when they know they can play a whole lot better.

But the result still stands. The bad taste in everyone’s mouth still stands.

The game just reminds the Magic still have a lot of work to do to fine-tune themselves for the regular season. It reminds the team that their success is far from guaranteed.

It will take more than familiarity and a new outlook on their offense. It will take focus, intensity and purpose of play.

That was all lacking in the Magic’s loss to the Celtics. And the results showed it.