Orlando Magic Blue keep building but suffer some road blocks

The Orlando Magic created several highlight plays and got the NBA world buzzing. But there was still some to clean up on offense to get a Summer League win.

The final result of a Summer League has no meaning. After a solid first game performance, what you want to see is a team and a player continue to build on the things they did well the first time out and make those habits and the (somewhat) new normal. Those habits and those patterns are what suggests something might stick around to the regular season.

A Summer League loss has no meaning. It is just nice to win. And nice to see everything come together at the same time.

That was not quite the case as the Orlando Magic Blue fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder 73-65 at Amway Center on Monday. Things did build and carry over from Saturday, but so did the turnovers and fouling which mar Summer League games.

In the end, Orlando was not able to make shots — shooting just 41.3 percent from the floor including 6-for-16 shooting from rookie Mario Hezonja and 5 for 24 from beyond the arc — and that did them in as much as anything else. Orlando was getting the opportunities but not executing and taking advantage of them in the end.

Such is Summer League life.

“From an improvement standpoint, just being able to move the ball better on offense,” Magic assistant coach Monte Mathis said. “We talked a little about it with our guys, the ball sticking a little bit. The ball has got to move in the NBA and in Summer League. To get yourself open and get guys open, you need to move the ball side to side.”

Orlando finished with 16 assists on 26 made field goals, and probably left a few assist opportunities on the board.

Some of the sticking had to do with offensive experimentation as Aaron Gordon once again had the ball in his hands a lot looking to score from the perimeter. There also was probably a few plays where other players were forcing things. That is the nature of Summer League, again.

But when the Magic did get things moving, it was spectacular. Gordon and Hezonja provided their fair share of highlight plays, displaying their athleticism and potential. Orlando certainly won the game on the highlight board, setting NBA twitter on fire in the middle of the afternoon.

Aaron Gordon also followed up his stellar first-game performance with another strong 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic, adding three steals to his tally too. Gordon was again confident with the ball and with his shot, making 8 of his 11 field goal attempts and hitting another 3-pointer.

Gordon simply looks like a more confident and composed player on the floor and a second game with a strong and controlled offensive performance suggests he has made a leap in his game — even if it is just Summer League.

“I’m just trying to come out focused,” Aaron Gordon said. “I’m not really trying to show anything off. I’m just trying to play the game the way I know how to play. I’m not really expecting any results either. Like I’ve been doing this summer, just focusing on the process. When it’s time to play fives, it’s time to play fives.”

Things have certainly slowed down for Gordon and he is approaching this week like any other week in his summer. The games are just a bit more organized and he is within the Magic’s coaching staff’s purview.

Gordon said he is feeling more comfortable and can control what he wants to do on offense. He acknowledge he still has a long way to go. That much is true.

For all the success Gordon has had his team has continued to struggle — needing overtime to win on Saturday and losing by eight on Monday, including getting outscored 25-18 in teh fourth quarter.

The Magic’s poor shooting certainly has some to do with that and the Magic only placed two players in double figures in the game — Gordon and Hezonja, who was inconsistent himself with his shot while making just two of eight from beyond the arc.

For all the talk of building up, the Magic still fell behind and fell out of this game through their own sloppy play — 20 turnovers leading to 21 Thunder points — and mistakes — like missing 8 of 16 free throws.

How much of this should the team worry about? Not much. It is just about carrying things forward and making the necessary progress the team wants to see.

Defensively, the Magic locked things down nearly enough in giving up 43.1 percent shooting and just 1 of 12 from beyond the arc. But still the result was not ideal.

“[I felt] fine,” Hezonja said of playing his second game. “Still with some crazy feelings. I missed everything, I was terrible. But the first thing that bothers me is I was not able to help my teammates get the win. The rest will come. I just want to help them win every single game.”

His up-and-down game was probably indicative of how the Magic felt. They did some good things, but in the end the loss and the inability to make shots at key moments stung more than anything else.

The team built some excitement when they could, but that is not going to win basketball games. Ultimately, the ball did stick as Elfrid Payton struggled to get into the paint on pick and rolls — four points and four assists — and the team relied heavily on Gordon and Hezonja to create. It is no wonder Gordon, Hezonja and Payton each accounted for four turnover in this game.

Those kind of things matter less in Summer League.

What matters more is the team continued to have an active and energetic defensive approach and Aaron Gordon continued his growth and followed up one stellar offensive performance with another.

The rest the team can clean up as the week goes on and as they learn from their mistakes. The base feels established and the Magic have doubled down a lot on what went right — and what went wrong — in the first game.

Next: Orlando Magic White keeps things rolling in win over Pacers