Pressure tightens, constricts Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic were churning the offense for three quarters. Then the Charlotte Hornets upped their urgency and the Magic, predictably, tightened up.

For three quarters the Orlando Magic were a passing machine. The ball was whipping around the perimeter as it had been at its best points all season.

The Charlotte Hornets at one point went to a zone for a possession only to see the Magic kick the ball into the high post, then back out to the perimeter then to the wing and then into the paint in a blink, tearing apart the hope for the Hornets.

The confidence was evident with each movement — and each building assist with 27 of them through three quarters. After spending the first 21 days of this month lost at sea offensively, keeping the ball on one side and overdribbling into the paint, it all of a sudden stopped.

Then as quickly as it clicked on, it all stopped. The Magic lost that ball movement and reverted to the team that had by far the worst offense in the league in January — 93.2 points per 100 possessions.

Orlando had six points and seven turnovers in the final 17 possessions of regulation. They had only four assists in the final 17 minutes of the game. They regressed in a dramatic and surprising way after dominating for so long.

“The most frustrating thing is how when things are going bad how negative we get,” Victor Oladipo said. “Because negative things just pile up and don’t let you play to your capabilities. We just have to stay positive right now. Us in here have to stick together and stay positive and good things will happen. We’ll get back to where we need to be.”

The negatives have piled up for the Magic in the form of nine losses in 10 games in January. Orlando now sits two games outside the playoff picture, and the team is fading fast.

As has happened repeatedly throughout this losing stretch, the pressure got ramped up on the Magic — whether it was early in the game, after halftime or, in this case, at the end — and they wilted. They tried to force offense and got caught standing around waiting for someone to do something.

Orlando, as the team began to assess it earlier this week, got tight and could not get out of its own way.

“I don’t know what is going in each guy’s mind whether they are feeling timid or not,” Skiles said. “It did look like that, but in large part because we got away from our ball movement. We get away from what’s working and the other team turns it up.”

The Hornets were put in desperation mode by the 19-point deficit and the ticking down of the clock. The Magic were unable to match the intensity and seeing that lead begin to dwindle down seemingly only increased that pressure.

Instead of the simple passes to churn the defense and get them moving, the Magic had to extend their offense’s initiation well behind the 3-point line. Passes were received late and the ball held. Orlando tried to force feed the ball to individual players rather than work the ball around to find the open player.

Defensively, the Magic’s warts all night were exposed. They were struggling to contain Kemba Walker as it was but few players were stepping up to stop him really.

When Walker finally delivered the Hornets the lead it came in transition with him blowing past every Magic defender and few even trying to step up and make him change direction in some meaningful way.

Scott Skiles said he just wanted to see someone compete against him as he dropped his 40 points and led the Hornets to the victory.

On the fatal play, the Hornets ran a pick and roll for Walker and Nikola Vucevic sold out to stop his dribble penetration. Walker fed it to an open Spencer Hawes in the corner for the go-ahead and game-winning 3-pointer in overtime.

At least that was some effort even if it ended up being a terrible result for the Magic. One that was only followed by another terrible offensive execution with Victor Oladipo running a nice play to set up a pick and roll with Vucevic going to Oladipo’s right that finished with a rushed double-clutch shot the Hornets easily rebounded.

The chance to salvage a win and retake the lead was gone in that instant. And the Magic were left scratching their heads frustrated again.

“I just don’t believe we’re trusting each other as well as we need to be,” Aaron Gordon said. “I don’t know if it’s deliberately or we are missing the open man. We need to get back to passing to the open man whether we think it’s the right play, it’s the right play.”

It is hard to say with any clear definition whether there is a lack of trust. There is definitely a dogged stubbornness from every player to get out of this hole. It just has not been productive.

Skiles suggested during his press conference it is possible players are looking for their own production in points rather than letting the offense come to them and work for them as the defense tries to shift its focus to the next man attacking them.

However it wants to be described, the tendency when the Magic are facing adversity and facing difficult right now is to tighten up. Players are attacking and dribbling into crowds or putting up difficult shots rather than kicking back out.

Those without the ball stand around watching this happen, failing to present much of an option for the player desperately trying to score on his own.

“In the game of basketball character is built in adversity,” Oladipo said. “What kind of character do we have is the question right now. It’s tough. But we’re better than this and we know it.

“I think we’re playing a little too tense right now. That’s how we gave the game away. When we didn’t hit a shot, we kind of panicked in a sense. It’s something that can be corrected. I feel like once we get over this hump, we’re going to be just fine. We just have to believe that we can and believe in ourselves and believe in one another and realize that we can’t do it on our own.”

So now we learn what this Magic team is really made of. It certainly has been the last few weeks as they have fallen deeper into this abyss of losing.

Aaron Gordon has talked about keeping the team from fracturing. Players have continually said the right things and acknowledged they have spoken about the team’s troubles. Skiles said the team has had these conversations with and among each other.

Related Story: Too many turnovers, too much Kemba Walker in loss to Charlotte Hornets

None of that is going to matter without some action though. That is what is demanded. And the tightness this team feels when it gets pushed and prodded has to get corrected.

The Magic have been put in positions to succeed, the lack of execution and frustration lies with those on the floor.

“All the talking has been done,” Vucevic said. “It’s time for action.”