Evan Fournier on the edge, a barometer for Orlando Magic movement

The Orlando Magic’s offense has hit a snag in recent weeks. Evan Fournier and how he scores and where he gets his points has proven a barometer of the team.

Evan Fournier lived on the edge all night Wednesday against the Portland Trail Blazers. In one moment, his aggression and pace were brilliant in a half-court, slowed-down game that was not to the Orlando Magic’s liking. He was the one controlling the pace and getting the Magic going.

In another moment, he was something else.

He was the one stopping the ball and preventing the Magic from getting anywhere. Fournier was barking at officials for small contact and minor annoyances. He was getting into a shoving match with CJ McCollum that failed to energize anybody on the Magic.

It was petty frustration. That little shoving match, which ended with McCollum blowing kisses at Fournier in a meme-able moment on a Wednesday night in the NBA, was the pinnacle of frustration during a 17-0 Portland run that erased Orlando’s lead and gave Portland complete control of the game.

Still, Fournier kept producing. That is what he has done for the Magic the last two years as the team’s leading scorer. He finds a way to score.

Sometimes it is effective in helping the team win. Sometimes he plays the hero too much and stalls the ball, taking the whole team out of rhythm.

In Fournier’s 22-point effort Wednesday, he was both hero and villain. Sinner and saint. Ball mover and creator and a ball stopper.

In the moments that mattered, Fournier was the ball stopper. The guy who last year seemed to try too hard to take on the “star role” and force things when they were not there.

With the Magic down three points with about 2.5 minutes left, Fournier surveyed the floor at the top of the key. He tried to run a pick and roll with Nikola Vucevic a few times but could not get into the paint. instead of moving the ball to initiate a secondary action, Fournier fired from range to try to bring the Magic within one.

There were no passes on this play and it was simply Fournier trying to create space for his own shot.

This was the style of play the Magic must avoid at all costs. And it was the style the Magic played for the final five minutes of the second quarter when the Trail Blazers went on that killer run.

Orlando Magic

Orlando is a rhythm team. It has to move the ball to get good shots and create energy. Orlando does not get energy from its defense quite yet. It gets its energy from the rhythm of their pace.

Anyone who slows the ball down is getting in its way. And, at the end of the day, not helping the team. The Magic must limit their turns at isolation or “hero ball.”

This is the thing the Magic are still understanding and trying to master. There is such a will and determination to try to make this thing work from several longtime Magic players that everyone seems to try to do things on their own when the team is struggling.

It does not seem any player — Evan Fournier, Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic are the biggest offenders of trying to personally bring the Magic back from the brink — is doing it out of selfishness or malice. They are just determined to reconfigure that pace and get the team back into its rhythm.

Against set defenses, Orlando continues to find things tough to crack. Especially when they do not move the ball.

Fournier is a good barometer of this.

In the second quarter, as Orlando lost its lead and gave up the run, Fournier was forcing things. He committed three of the Magic’s seven turnovers during that run, trying to drive into the lane and force the Magic back into rhythm.

After Orlando fell behind by 11 points, it was Fournier who helped bring them back.

In the third quarter, Fournier scored 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting. He aggressively went to the basket and finished over tough defense. He played under control in the half court, calmly driving into his shots and moving it when it was not there.

This is the Fournier the Magic need. And when the ball rotates to him on the perimeter, he takes the shot.

Jonathon Simmons also had a big hand in the Magic getting back into the game. He was one of the few players able to break the defense down and get all the way to the rim. That was not something Fournier could do. Nor is it in Fournier’s primary role. Jonathon Simmons is supposed to put his head down and get all the way to the basket.

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Orlando does not bring itself from the brink without Fournier’s efforts. They also might have a better finish if Fournier stuck to the game plan and the team’s identity. Fournier let the ball stick with him. He put the game in his hands.

Fournier has had his clutch moments throughout his career. He is one of the most clutch players in the league in many ways. And Fournier is still the Magic’s most consistent and best offensive options on most occasions. He still leads the team in scoring.

But his offense and the Magic’s offense still has to come within the flow of its natural pace. Disrupting that pace, as the Magic have learned in losing five of the past seven games, can lead to some bad outcomes for the team.

How they respond and regroup now will say a lot about the team and its future this season.

Fournier will play a big role in that. What he does with the ball matters.

Fournier needs to play with an edge. There are times when he needs to believe he is the man and take control of the game. But he is still learning when those times are.

More often, he needs to keep the ball moving. If his initial move does not work, he has to keep the ball moving. With the way the Magic can pass, it should eventually find its way back to him.

Next: Grades: Portland Trail Blazers 99, Orlando Magic 94

That is the trust Fournier and the Magic need to have.