Gerald Bourguet, Hoops Habit
"Woof, Orlando Magic. Despite three triple-doubles from Elfrid Payton over the Magic’s last five games, they still went 1-4 in that stretch…including losses to the lowly Knicks, slumping Cavs and crummy Kings, plus a 40-point smackdown at the hands of the Hornets."
Woof, indeed.
The Orlando Magic have not had a good run of losses of late. And Gerald Bourguet spares the Magic from discussing their 120-115 loss to the Sacramento Kings to start the week.
Orlando has to avoid these losses — a 40-point loss to the Charlotte Hornets or blowing a big lead at home to the New York Knicks — if the team wants to build that culture Frank Vogel talks about so often. Seeing progress is a goal at least.
The Magic are not going to make any serious push. In all likelihood, they are going to lose a lot of games the rest of the way, even if they are trying to win.
Next: OMD Roundtable: The final countdown
That may be instructive as much as anything else. Orlando needs to make some changes.