The Orlando Magic have a litany of problems late in games as the pressure increases. Among them is the most simple — inbounding the ball.
The fickle nature of the Orlando Magic is displayed in one dramatic play. Or dramatic type of play. The simplest type of play really.
Getting the ball in.
It should be easy. Run a set, get a guy open, flow right into the offense.
Teams from every level of basketball work on sets designed to do the most basic thing, inbound the ball and initiate play.
When it is run right it can be sublime.
The Orlando Magic had one of the most brilliant inbound plays they have ever run.
Down by three points late in the fourth quarter with the ball underneath their basket, Elfrid Payton looked to inbound the ball. Fournier dove down to the block to set a screen for Victor Oladipo, who was flaring to the top of the key.
Fournier though quickly darted back toward the corner, running through around an elevator screen and trapping his man as well as the help behind it.
Fournier took the inbound and drained a 3-pointer to tie the game.
He followed that up with his own miracle inbound, a baseball pass the length of the floor, to Elfrid Payton that nearly tied the game up again and forced overtime.
The game-tying 3-pointer though and that final play were both examples of perfect execution. The brilliance of Xs and Os strategy can be irrelevant without that execution.
And even in this game that execution was lacking. The Magic had at least two massive miscommunications on inbounds. And one came at a critical moment.
With the Magic trailing by one point with one minute to play Evan Fournier was trying to inbound the ball and no one was getting open again. He lofted the ball for Nikola Vucevic and it was easily stolen by Patty Mills. An important possession was lost.
“We’re still trying to figure out what simple things like who can inbound the ball best for us,” coach Scott Skiles said. “We’ve tried several people and haven’t had a ton of luck yet. I am not blaming that on Evan or anything. We’ve had a lot of difficulty. At that moment, you have to screen, you can’t put the ball above your head and stare anything down, you have to have deception. There is a lot of things that go into that and a lot of cleverness. Sometimes we stare it down or one guy misses a screen. That needs to be cleaned up.”
This has been a recurring theme for four years now. As the Magic get tighter late in games, they cannot do this simple act.
The Magic turned the ball over on an inbounds in Memphis when Elfrid Payton tried to force the ball to Tobias Harris only to see the Grizzlies make the steal and score the game-winning basket. It happened countless other times.
Even in the win over Atlanta on Sunday, the Magic had problems getting the ball in. Elfrid Payton had to call timeout on the first attempt to avoid a five-second violation before inbounding it to Nikola Vucevic for the game-winner. And even that was not clean.
Monday in Atlanta, the Magic nearly turned the ball over on an inbound attempt in a tie game. Mario Hezonja went to near midcourt to save the ball from going into the backcourt and dribbled into a trap anyway.
The Magic’s issues getting the ball in are part of the tenseness of these late game situations. They are a microcosm of the Magic’s issues late in games in general.
“We know it’s happening, but we can’t stop it,” Evan Fournier said about the Magic’s late game struggles in general. “We know what we’ve got to do. It’s the same thing every game. We’ve just got to find a way to do it. They made some tough shots on the other end as well. They played well.”
The Spurs did play well. They made the stops necessary and the plays necessary to win. In the fourth quarter, they increased their defensive pressure and harassed and frustrated the Magic off their spots. There was no reciprocation when there needed to be. The Magic needed to match that physicality and intensity.
Aaron Gordon said in these moments the team has to try to remain calm and continue executing the sets they are running. It is human nature to give into frustration and sometimes try to do too much.
It seems to happen again and again with this team.
Repetition certainly helps when it comes to running these specific plays or working with these situations. The coaching staff can practice a play with six seconds left on the clock and practice situations, but they cannot practice the defense they will face. There are no Kawhi Leonards on the roster to help the Magic prepare for that kind of pressure.
It is among the many self-inflicted wounds the Magic repeatedly place upon themselves. And one of the many things left to change for the Magic to succeed.
Next: Orlando Magic turn again late in loss to San Antonio Spurs
“Coach talked about it, those little winning plays that you have to make at the end of the game to close out games,” Nikola Vucevic said. “There were a lot of those that we didn’t make tonight. We have to do it. That’s the only way you can be consistent in this league.”