It may be an intangible feeling, but everyone seems to sense the Orlando Magic are trending up early on in the 2018 season.
Orlando Magic fans likely had the same thought as the Cleveland Cavaliers cut the deficit to seven points in the third quarter of Saturday’s game. It was likely the same thought they had during Wednesday’s season opener as the Miami Heat erased a 17-point deficit to climb to within two points.
It is the kind of self-defeating talk that is the custom of those used to losing. That is what five years of defeat has conditioned the fan base to expect. It is the kind of thought that cannot enter the mind of players.
Who could blame them if it did?
Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier had seen plenty of these types of games go the other way. The players from last year’s team had experienced nothing but disappointment in these situations. Faith and confidence are one thing, but results matter too. And there is little faith in the results.
But something different happened in those moments this year. The team did not crumble or fold in these moments. They rose to the occasion.
"“All I can tell you is from when I got here until now is guys have been great, guys have been workers and guys want to win,” newcomer Jonathon Simmons said. “It’s basketball. We have to tell ourselves that basketball is a game of runs. It’s how you handle the run and punch back.”"
Jonathon Simmons said he could not comment on the team’s mentality last year since he was not here. But it is clear the former San Antonio Spur is confident in his team’s ability to get up off the mat.
Coach Frank Vogel pointed not to the team’s offensive barrage in the first half as the turning point in the team’s win Saturday, but rather to how the Magic responded to the third-quarter run from the Cavaliers that cut the lead to seven. That, to him, was the biggest moment of the game.
That was a message Vogel said he reinforced to his team at practice Monday. As Cleveland tried to tighten the screws and cut into the deficit, the Magic buckled down themselves and got stops. That 31-9 run to close the game was an exclamation point.
If there is any sign the Magic are a different team this year, it was in these moments. Something even they recognized.
Evan Fournier said after the win in the season opener Wednesday they probably would have lost that game a year ago. D.J. Augustin echoed the same sentiment after the Magic’s win Saturday against the Cavaliers.
It is just three games — with a frustrating, disappointing loss to the Brooklyn Nets in between — but the Magic certainly have a different feel about them. Something that may not quite be tangibly different. But the results are showing.
"“We’re just taking all the right steps,” Terrence Ross said. “We’re doing all the little things right. We’re trying to make the simple plays and not trying to overthink it too much. We’re just trying to go out there and playing ball. It’s coming together. And when it comes together you want to do your best to stay in rhythm. Right now, that’s what we’re doing.”"
Orlando Magic
It may not be anything particularly different. It may not even be the addition of a new player. Or possibly even a word said in the huddle. It is something truly intangible that may have just clicked.
It may have finally been one result going their way and the knowledge clicking into place.
But the Magic are reacting to the adversity they have faced — deficits, blown leads, injuries and the like — and coming through so far. They have responded to the challenge. And each success is building on itself, growing confidence with he group.
It feels like something that might last, although it is still very early to say one way or the other.
An attention to detail is still important for the Magic to build off their early success.
That might make their one defeat to this point all the more puzzling. It seems out of character with how the team played the other two times out.
Orlando was not strong defensively. And while the team could keep pace offensively, allowed the Brooklyn Nets to dictate the tempo everywhere else. The Magic gave credit to the Nets — Vogel calling them “for real” on several occasions — for their strategy. But they also knew the fault in that game lied with them too.
That game taught them a lot. The Magic still have plenty of growth to make and go.
"“We’re still taking those small steps,” Terrence Ross said. “You can’t overlook anything in this league. We’re just finding ways to win. I think it’s helping us because we’re banding together in tough times. We’re going into hostile environments hand in hand, ready to go. It’s paying off for us.”"
The Magic have done a lot of good things in the first three games. It seems fairly evident there is a different confidence about this team.
Maybe it came from holding off the Heat and executing down the stretch the way the Magic did. Maybe it comes from using the fuel of that disappointing loss to the Nets to fee da blowout performance against the Cavaliers — a win Nikola Vucevic admitted had as many positive indicators as any game he has played in a Magic uniform.
Things seem to be trending in the right direction for the Magic, at least through three games. Orlando still has a lot of work to do to become the team it wants. Building and sustaining momentum is still a trick the team has to learn.
"“For the most part, I know that we’re playing the right way,” Ross said. “We stopped making silly plays that we made last year. We’re all learning how to play. We’re understanding what the defense is giving us. And we’re playing together. When you do that it is hard to lose.”"
Next: Locked On Magic: Early Season Impressions
That lump in everyone’s stomach when the game gets tight? Maybe that is disappearing. Maybe now there is a different confidence with this team.