Orlando Magic can’t gameplan their way past the Golden State Warriors

The Orlando Magic had a solid gameplan to slow down the Golden State Warriors. Eventually the Warriors cracked it and ran away with a win.

There is no gameplan for Stephen Curry. Not really, at least.

A team can switch and crowd and he will find a way to beat anybody. And then he will just pull up from 30 feet and fire over an unsuspecting defense.

Curry and the Golden State Warriors put unending stress on any team. Their ability to pass with precision and shoot from anywhere make them the most dangerous team in the entire league — and the favorite to win the title.

The Orlando Magic would have to be near perfect to have any chance. There could be no slippage. And even then, eventually the Warriors would make their push. This is the reality of playing the Warriors.

A team like the Magic needs a game plan. And they need to commit fully to that gameplan.

When a team like Orlando sees that gameplan slip, Golden State can drop 42 points in a quarter and make things look incredibly easy. The team can have Stephen Curry score 16 points on four 3-pointers. The Warriors can turn a tie game — or a five-point lead — into a rout.

Golden State’s 22-6 run to take control and put away an 118-98 victory at the Amway Center on Sunday was the Magic eventually giving way, losing grip on a solid gameplan that held the Warriors to 50 points in the first half and a tie game.

It was not a lack of effort or attention to detail, it was the Warriors making plays and beating an infereior team.

“They made shots,” Jeff Green said. “We were there contesting. But [Stephen] Curry, Klay [Thompson], they got in transition and knocked down shots. There is not much you can do when they are shooting from where they are shooting from.”

Orlando was nearly perfect in the first half, taking advantage of Golden State turnovers and keeping Golden State from those killer fast-break opportunities and passing that burn teams.

Coach Frank Vogel said the team’s strategy was to prevent dunks and limit paint points. Vogel said while the Warriors’ 3-point shooting is deadly, they become even more dangerous when they get inside the paint and start passing it around the horn to find an open shot.

Orlando did a lot of this by switching almost every screen to keep players on the perimeter in one-on-one situations. That is because when someone does step out of position, the Warriors seem capable of exploiting it with precise passing.

The other element to this strategy is to prevent fast break points. That takes making shots. This proved to be the beginning of the Magic’s undoing.

“There’s just no margin for error,” Vogel said. “And the way you punch back is to make shots yourself and moving the basketball yourself. Because they are going to hit guarded shots and get you in scramble situations where their shooters are open. You have to play both ways against these guys.”

The Warriors finished with 46 points in the paint and 37 fast-break points. Orlando gave up 13 offensive rebounds and 20 second-chance points. The Warriors had a 31.0 percent offensive rebound rate — their average for the year is 22.3 percent.

Golden State committed 19 turnovers, leading to 20 Orlando points, helping the team stay afloat.

But eventually those mistakes took over and the Warriors limited their own errors to take control of the game.

When Orlando extended or trapped, Golden State fired the right pass to the open man or to someone who could get it to an open man. That seemed to magnify in the third quarter.

Golden State had 12 points in the paint and six second-chance points four offensive rebounds — and a 36.4 percent offensive rebound rate. With the Magic missing shots — 2 for 9 from beyond the arc — the Warriors scored 20 fast-break points in the quarter.

That is how a team can score 40-plus points in a quarter and blow a game open despite anyone’s best defensive efforts. The Warriors scored either from behind the arc with eight 3-point makes or in the paint with six field goals. That was all 14 of Golden State’s third-quarter field goals.

The Warriors won the game by scoring in the two ways the Magic could not afford to allow them to score.

Nikola Vucevic said it was pretty simple, the Magic did not do what they were supposed to do. And against an opponent like the Warriors, that is clearly the difference.

Things were not all bad. The Magic had a good gameplan. When it was executed, they gave themselves a chance to win and control the game. Orlando led by 11 points at one point in the second quarter. The Warriors were going to make their run, but the Magic had every chance to play well.

And for the second straight game, Orlando played with good energy and precision. There seemed to be a commitment to the gameplan and, even in the face of some early struggles and some shots given up, they stuck with it. The process trumped the results. And the results did work themselves out.

Until the Magic did not. And that is ultimately what led to a loss.

“We relaxed,” Jeff Green said. “They are a good team, nothing to take away from what they did. But I think we just relaxed. They made plays. That’s why they are what they are and they get the acclaim that they do.”

The Magic’s strong play with momentary mistakes may work against the Milwaukee Bucks or possibly against Tuesday’s opponent in the Chicago Bulls. The Magic can still draw some positives.

Next: Grades: Golden State Warriors 118, Orlando Magic 98

But not against the Warriors. That little moment of relaxing is enough for the Warriors to bury anyone.