Orlando Magic go collectively cold in loss to Indiana Pacers

There is always the dictum that a shooter should keep shooting, but what happens when a cold streak hits nearly everyone?

“Mama said there’d be days like this, there’d be days like this mama said…”

It was as though that lyric fit the game as a soundtrack. The Orlando Magic came out and misfired its first dozen 3-point shots. It became really painful to endure watching.

Then, Shabazz Napier finally hit one from the top of the key, midway through the second quarter as the Magic surged ahead by six. It was short-lived and they never regained the lead.

The Magic astoundingly still missed 13 of their next 18 threes to finish the game 6 of 31 from downtown. It was the fourth time this year the Magic had shot more than 30 3-pointers, all four games were losses.

As to how that happens, it seems the best explanation is that Orlando was simply hoping it eventually got it going from behind the arc.

“A big key to the game for us,” Tobias Harris said. “We weren’t able to make a lot of the shots that we wanted to. We got a lot of open looks that didn’t go down. Just got to put that one behind us and get ready for the next one. It’s tough to do that. We just have to learn from the game and go forward.”

But should not at some point the Magic made every effort to pound it inside or slash to the basket? The Pacers do have two good shot blockers in Ian Mahinmi and Myles Turner, but these guys are not Anthony Davis or Hassan Whiteside.

The Magic just really needed to attack the basket more. Orlando only had 32 field goal attempts in the paint, making half of the team’s shots there.

Sometimes the jumper is a lazy way out of running the offense, and the Magic had a multitude of one-pass possessions, and also a disproportionate number of plays that featured rushed or forced looks at the basket.

“Early on, I felt like we were wide open all over the place and couldn’t make them,” coach Scott Skiles said. “That happens certain nights. When that happens, we tend to instead of staying with it, we start to overdribble and go one on one. We usually don’t have much success doing that. Six for 31 is hard to overcome. You’ve got to make threes in this league if you want to win the game.”

Running it down, Evan Founier knocked down 1 of 6, and Tobias Harris was 0 of 6. Andrew Nicholson was 0 of 4. The only player who redeemed from three was Victor Oladipo, who actually hit four of the six makes in just seven attempts.

Both Fournier and Harris lamented the missed opportunities, feeling they took open 3-pointers in rhythm and just missed them.

Oladipo had a fairly solid game, but the Magic miss Elfrid Payton’s creative talents. While Payton may not be shooting the ball well this year, tonight no one was, save Oladipo — and perhaps he can make a push to be the adequate floor spacer Orlando needs to play its best five players at once.

At some point, shooting has to take a backseat. Oladipo has thrived off the bench, but he seems to be at his best when he is playing 41 minutes like in this contest. No, he is not a backup plan at the point guard — we can see that now — but he is the guy who can either make or break Orlando’s playoff chances.

Maybe that is a lot of pressure, but when shots are not falling, Oladipo hits the rim. The difference was tonight his shots were falling while no one else pitched in. Payton would lend some balance to that attack, and the Magic are at their best when Payton and Oladipo seek to play ultra aggressive defense.

“It’s tough, but there is going to be nights like that,” Oladipo said. “I believe in us and I believe we’re going to get back to where we need to be. I believe we are going to get back to making shots and doing what we do best. We just can’t get discouraged is the biggest thing.”

Indiana did not even play an outstanding game. The Magic just continually blew chance after chance at victory, with each clanked jumper. It was not Orlando’s night. But the basketball was not horrible, just the results.

The Magic will have to learn to work the clock and the ball to get better looks, because there is no excuse for firing 31 threes when that clearly is not the best card in the deck on that night.

The Magic just could not seem to move past what was not working, and that is how it ends up going down in the loss column.

Next: Orlando Magic woes continue with limited progress

Philip Rossman-Reich contributed to this report.