The cliche that Jacque Vaughn likes to say throughout this season is that it takes 48 minutes. Young teams have to learn that lesson well every time they step onto the court. And the good teams have to learn how to win when they do not play their best game in the path to becoming great.
The Orlando Magic have rarely been able to hit 48 minutes. Some nights that has not mattered. Against teams like the Toronto Raptors or Golden State Warriors or the best in the NBA, that imperative to play every second of the 48 minutes becomes so much more important.
The Magic can repeat saying this lesson as much as they want but at some point they have to walk the walk as much as they talk the talk. They are still taking baby steps in the category of finishing and winning these kinds of games.
The Raptors were running laps in the second half.
The Magic had the deficit down to two points, hanging around while the offense tried to figure itself out. It never would against the Raptors and their suffocating defense. Orlando gave up a 21-10 run to trail by as much as 16 points, eventually falling to Toronto 96-83 at Air Canada Centre on Monday night.
| Score | Off. Rtg. | eFG% | O.Reb.% | TO% | FTR | |
| Orlando | 82 | 90.6 | 51.4 | 18.2 | 19.7 | 10.8 |
| Toronto | 95 | 104.9 | 51.2 | 28.6 | 12.7 | 18.1 |
Toronto certainly seemed to increase its intensity and focus in the second half. The results would certainly argue in favor of that. The Raptors outscored the Magic 51-30 in the second half. Orlando shot just 37.1 percent from the floor. The Magic took the lead in the second half thanks to hard cuts and solid ball movement. Their defense led the way and helped them get into transition.
That was not the case in the second half. Toronto hedged hard on pick and rolls and cut off any dribble penetration. The Magic fell into their bad habit of relying too heavily on one-on-one basketball. Orlando totaled just four assists in the second half.
Meanwhile the Ra;ptors caught the Magic sleeping and got out in transition. They became the aggressors with Kyle Lowry helping reduce the eight-point halftime deficit to one in fairly quick order. He flipped the switch and the Raptors came with him.
Lowry drained three of his four 3-pointers in the second half and the Raptors hit five in the third quarter. That helped them erase that eight-point deficit and take control of the game. From there, it felt like the Raptors were biding their time to take over.
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Orlando did barely enough to stay in the game. Their defense — what everyone thought would be their identity — stepped up in short stretches. It kept the Magic in the game and kept the Raptors from getting too far away.
But it was ultimately as inconsistent as the offense was. Thus the frustration and the continuation of the cliches.
Orlando ended up shooting 48.6 percent for the game, but totaled only 13 assists and got to the line eight times. Tobias Harris had a team-high 18 points on 8-for-15 shooting, but got 14 points and took eight of those field goal attempts (making six) in the first half. The Raptors effectively shut him out in the second half.
Victor Oladipo struggled to keep the team running offensively. He had four second-half turnovers as the Magic were letting the ball stick too much.
The crazy part was Orlando had things working pretty well in the second quarter. The ball moved well and the Magic were able to attack. The defense set things up and the Raptors were missing shots. When the missed shots dried up, the Magic could not flow easily into their offense.
And except for Ben Gordon and a brief spell from Elfrid Payton, the Magic could not get anything from their bench. Not in the same way that Lou Williams and Tyler Hansbrough could. And then Patrick Patterson started making shots to close the game out and put the nail in the coffin.
Raptors Rapture
Whatever energy Orlando gained from seeing Evan Fournier take a nasty elbow from Tyler Hansbrough, spit up blood and walk to the locker room was gone pretty quickly in the second half. Kyle Lowry sucked it out.
The energy and attention to detail was inconsistent. There were possessions where Orlando looked more than a step slow on both ends to the floor. In the second half, Toronto was beating Orlando to about every 50-50 ball. These were the plays the Magic made when they actually pulled out the win Saturday against the Hawks.
Those plays were not there for the Magic tonight. Not consistently enough.
To get to the next step — wherever that might be for this team — the Magic have to continue to improve that 48-minute effort. Until then there will be hot and cold moments and more losses like this against good teams, willing to give the Magic a chance to sniff a victory.