The Orlando Magic fell behind early and could never dig out of the hole. A few bench players shined, but the Magic needed more from their stars.
The Orlando Magic got off to a slow defensive start and saw their offense disappear in the second half to fall behind by 20 points. Even for the second night of a back to back, it looked like a poor effort. More of the same puzzling, frustrating lack of defense and poor effort plagued the team again.
Yes, the Memphis Grizzlies are one of the best teams in the league. They put on an offensive clinic in the first half though, shooting 64.7 percent in the first quarter and 59.5 percent in the first half. This is not an offensive juggernaut by any means.
The feeling when Orlando trailed by 20 was not the typical good team beating on weaker team either. The Magic were running with the Grizzlies and playing their pace. The Grizzlies were just making shots.
But the second quarter saw Orlando give up too many easy looks. The effort went south and Memphis outran the Magic.
Credit for slowing the pace down some. Credit for scratching their way back into the game (although never truly threatening the lead). But no credit for coming up just short.
Again.