More of the same for Magic, but a little bit different
The Orlando Magic played more or less the same way they always do. They fell behind, caught up and lost. Wednesday felt different though thanks to defense.
The Orlando Magic played a similar game to the last two they played.
They got down, struggling to make baskets. They were seemingly listless and unable to execute. Moments of brilliance were followed by moments of frustration. No momentum could get stoked because the shots would not fall consecutively. Nor would the stops come consecutively.
This had all the ingredients to be just like every other game the Magic have played of late. Same exact formula.
Even down to the wild comeback at the end that makes the final score look like the game was interesting and competitive throughout.
Wednesday night’s 93-90 loss to the Nuggets was a bit different. Not completely different. Not enough to change the negative perception surrounding this team at the moment.
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Moral (yes, moral and not morale) victories do not befit this team anymore. They have said all year they want to turn the corner and start winning. The Playoffs were right in front of them a week ago and now, even at 3.5 games out, it seems very far away.
The fact remains the Magic have lost 11 of their last 15 games since coming home from that West Coast trip. Most of those games came at Amway Center. There are major problems with this team — some expected, some unexpected.
The fact remains too that the Magic cannot go back and get those games back. They only have the experience of those losses to learn from and improve upon. Maybe they have done that, maybe they have not. That does not change the results.
What the Magic should worry about is if the same mistakes keep popping up again and again. The familiar script is the problem.
Did the Magic follow the familiar script int he loss to the Nuggets on Wednesday? Yes and no.
The Nuggets never led by more than 11. The Magic came back and fought back, taking the lead in the third quarter (then giving up the next eight points). They trailed by 10 points with 1:58 to play. That came on an alley-oop from Kenneth Faried to J.J. Hickson. That seemed to be it.
The Magic fought their way back and gave themselves a chance to win. That is not what is new. The Magic have done that plenty of times before.
What was new is that the team never spiraled. The game never got too far out of reach. There was always the chance the Magic could bounce back. Or that the Nuggets would blow this game open.
For once, the Magic found something missing all season long. A semblance of what their identity was supposed to be.
Victor Oladipo was ducking his head and bullying his way to the rim and scoring. His missed layup that turned into a 3-pointer from Ty Lawson hurt, but the process mattered there. Oladipo sparked the team and kept the team afloat in the second quarter when the game truly sat on the edge. He had 17 points in the game and proved to be a catalyst to get the Magic offense moving (finally).
Then there was the defense. The Nuggets never pulled away because of their own offensive impatience trying to break down the Magic’s defense. Denver posted a 92.6 offensive rating in the game. Most nights that kind of defense wins you the ball game.
The Magic wanted to be a defensive team and for one night they were. And Orlando has professed wanting to make defense the backstop when the offense does not work. Defense is the consistent of good teams. Offense is about making and missing shots. That can sometimes fall to randomness.
Defense will not fix the anemic Magic offense. Orlando is still going to struggle offensively.
But what the team succeeded in doing was continue to play defense and continue to give the team a chance even as the offense stopped working. The Magic have wilted in that situation so many times before.
That has to be a sign of some progress and some success, right?
Even if it is small, it is something to grasp onto and watch for as the team moves forward. If this game teaches the Magic that defense truly is the backstop and can give them a chance to win on their worst nights, then maybe this cold streak can turn around.