Orlando Magic Grades: Utah Jazz 125, Orlando Magic 85

The Orlando Magic came back to earth with a thud, falling to .500 with a 40-point defeat at home that had shades of last year’s embarrassment.

Thud.

That is the only sound that could describe the Orlando Magic and their seeming freefall from the highest of highs at the beginning of the season. The 6-2 start feels a distant memory as the team dropped its fourth straight game and its sixth in the last eight games.

The team was expected to fall back to earth. But not like this. Not in the same way that left everyone within the Magic organization asking themselves very real questions about themselves and their makeup. The kind of questions that led to the change that came in the summer.

This is one blip in an otherwise long season. But with all the bad play and struggles the Magic have had of late, even this kind of loss was inevitable.

Worst loss of the season indeed.

From the start, the Utah Jazz took it to the Orlando Magic. They played with the desperation of a team trying to get out of a losing streak and unconcerned with what it would take to get there. The Magic played like they expected to win simply by showing up — playing a team coming on a back to back and travel from Brooklyn.

That is never the case in the NBA. There are no easy wins. Everything in this league is earned. And any slippage leads to this — a 125-85 loss at the Amway Center on Saturday. The worst margin of defeat in team history.

The Magic believed and hoped these losses would be well behind them. This was the sign of a team drifting and playing for nothing. A team that, for lack of a better word, had quit.

That might be a bit too harsh of a word to use. But Utah took it to Orlando early and often.

Derrick Favors attacked the glass and easily disposed of Nikola Vucevic. Orlando was unable to rebound, a common problem throughout this season.

The Jazz kept the Magic out of the paint. The few times they wanted to get in there. Orlando settled for jumpers once again. The offense lost its flow. If it ever had flow to begin with in this game.

The Magic shot 38.3 percent from the floor and 8 for 29 from beyond the arc. They recorded only 13 assists on 31 makes. That is hardly the formula for the Magic’s success. They need ball movement to get open shots and create for each other.

Right now, Orlando is not that team. Instead, they resemble last year’s disastrous squad. And this was a result that reminded them just how bad things can be.

Next: Orlando Magic's West Coast road trip revealed their flaws

The Orlando Magic must lick their wounds and get ready for one more home game before another four-game road trip. And the Indiana Pacers will not give the Orlando Magic much time to rest.