The shots would not fall for Magic in loss to Heat

There were two moments that could encapsulate both the brilliance in the way the Magic played Saturday night against the Heat and the frustration of the end result. The old Spurs mantra of “process over results” has some meaning, but not a lot. There was still the feeling that the Magic let one slip away.

Orlando used some great ball movement to free up Channing Frye on the wing. The Magic’s passing was pretty solid all game, actually, and they moved and rotated around the perimeter well on the offensive end. That would not be the ultimate issue. Frye’s shot is usually dead on. Giving him a whole bunch of space is a sure recipe to give up a 3-pointer. Here Frye had plenty of space.

The shot rimmed in and out, circling the entirety of the rim before falling harmless to the Heat.

The same kind of opportunity was missed with Elfrid Payton at the foul line and the Magic trailing by two points. Payton was providing a humongous defensive spark with his steals and ability to get into the open floor. He drove at the basket and drew a foul to give the team a chance to tie the game. Unlike Friday night, when he missed both free throws no one was there to save the day.

The Heat went down to the other end of the floor and got a 3-pointer for Mario Chalmers. That ignited an 8-2 run and a 12-4 kick heading to the end of the game. That gave the Heat the breathing room they finally needed with Chris Bosh making difficult shots over Nikola Vucevic to ice it away.

Sometimes the game is very simple. The Heat made shots and the Magic did not in a 99-92 Heat win at Amway Center on Saturday night.

“Our looks were pretty decent tonight,” coach Jacque Vaughn said. “Some good looks from us. I don’t think anyone pressed tonight. I think overall we were pretty calm in our offense and got some pretty good looks.”

The shooting numbers tell a good chunk of the story. The Heat shot 52.1 percent from the floor and 12 for 26 from beyond the arc. The Heat were able to take advantage of a somewhat sluggish Magic defense. The consistency on their defensive rotations was not quite there and the Heat were able to work the ball for some open shots — and some missed assignments for open driving lanes.

It gave the Magic an uphill climb for most of the game. Orlando was never quite out of it, but could not get itself into the lead for any extended period of time.

The Magic shot 44.9 percent from the floor but made just 3 for 16 from beyond the arc.

It was hard to say many of those were horrible looks. The Magic still piled up a decent amount of assists with 18 in the game, including six from Evan Fournier and four from Elfrid Payton. The team had 52 points in the paint to the Heat’s 26. Orlando though made just 50 percent from the paint for the game. It was a tough go to finish at the rim, but the looks were there.

The shots just would not fall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etjG56Xk-WY

The Magic were game to keep things close. The Heat were never able to pull away even with their offense humming efficiently.

“I thought we got pretty good looks,” Victor Oladipo said. “We probably didn’t shoot well from the field, especially from the 3-point line which we’ve been really good at the last couple games. It is what it is. We can’t do anything but learn from it.

“They did a good job playing defense as well. We missed a lot of good looks. At the end of the day, it’s basketball. We’ve just got to continue to keep getting better. Everybody has got to get healthy so we can push it forward and get this thing going.”

Vucevic poured in a career-high 33 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, 11 on the offensive end. With Chris Bosh and Shawne Williams largely guarding him, the Magic dumped it inside and let Vucevic go to work. Maybe they did that a bit too often as Vucevic was often isolated and the Magic were standing around and watching. It had its moments where it was effective, but definitely made it hard to find a rhythm.

Orlando could not get its shooters to make shots. Evan Fournier made only one of his five 3-point attempts — and was 5 for 15 for the game. Victor Oladipo was still getting into the groove shooting 5 for 11 from the floor for his 14 points. There just was not a consistent offensive option.

Payton provided his burst of energy, creating turnovers with five steals and straight pilfering Shabazz Napier a few times. That energy was needed as the Magic tried to keep the Heat within striking distance and prevent them from blowing the game open. The hope was that shots would eventually fall and the Heat’s would eventually not.

The Heat though had the big plays when they needed them.

“You’ve got to give them credit,” Evan Fournier said. “Chris Bosh played great. He’s a champ. They have champs on that team. They have the experience. They just beat us with the experience tonight.”

Bosh scored 32 points on his own on 13-for-20 shooting, including 4 for 6 from beyond the arc. He hit a couple of difficult shots from the baseline over Vucevic and Frye in the final moments. There was just little the Magic could at the end. Nothing but maybe regret the missed opportunities from before — like that Frye rim out or Payton missed free throw or missed rotations throughout the game.

Missed opportunities can be learning experiences. They can be frustrating, and that certainly seemed to be the case postgame. Sometimes it is not your night. But when you have a chance to win, you have a chance to win. The Magic let another one slip by thanks to some rough execution on both ends.

The process has to trump the results for now.