Orlando Magic not tough enough as losing continues

The Orlando Magic have lost 25 of their last 29 games. And now coach Frank Vogel is wondering where the team’s toughness is after a second-half collapse.

Orlando Magic assistant coach Corliss Williamson had an air of confidence about him as Dante Marchitelli of FOX Sports Florida asked him about his team’s defense in the first half.

The Magic had just given up only 43 points and had a five-point halftime lead. That included an 18-point second quarter. Orlando was scrambling well and, despite its own poor shooting, had control over the game. The Magic were on the front foot and building off a strong half.

It was not perfect. But this was the gritty, grimy win a team needs to find. Especially when it has been struggling for so long. Those are the wins that build confidence and separate the average teams from the good teams. In the course of an 82-game season, everyone needs those kinds of wins.

Of course, the Magic know that has not always lasted with this team. In the locker room at halftime, coach Frank Vogel and his staff emphasized the team’s poor third quarters and how the team has struggled to get itself going.

All the goodwill the team had built up defensively could go away in an instant. The job was only half done. It was literally what the team talked about, Vogel said after the game.

Like plenty of other warnings — whether it be about boxing out, rebounding, moving the ball fell on deaf ears.

The Orlando Magic lost to the Dallas Mavericks 114-99 at the American Airlines Center on Tuesday. It was again a game where the Magic failed to do things differently, leaving the coach struggling to find an explanation yet again.

It is not merely the injuries. The Magic are struggling with some basic things necessary to win. Whatever anyone wants to call it.

For now, Vogel’s word sounds best: The Magic lack toughness.

In the second half, Vogel said the Magic did not play tough enough or well enough. The stats do not lie.

Orlando gave up 71 points in the second half, including 39 in the third quarter. The Magic gave up that five-point halftime advantage fairly quickly. In all the Mavericks scored 166.7 points per 100 possessions in the second half. This after scoring just 87.6 in the first half.

It was like two completely different teams. And really it was two completely different Magic defenses.

In the first half, Orlando did a good job contesting shots and scrambling to get to the glass. Orlando had an uncharacteristically high 96.0 percent defensive rebound rate in the first half. The Magic were doing exactly what they need to do and playing how they need to play.

After the Magic gave up an early scoring run, the Mavericks were shut down.

The script somehow flipped completely in the second half yet again.

Dallas pick and rolled through the lane with bigs and guards with ease and little punishment. Orlando scrambled to recover out to the 3-point line when offensive players collapsed the paint. The team switched at all the wrong times and allowed the Mavericks to take advantage of mismatches.

There was no physicality. And there was not much fight. Even though Orlando was making its shots, the team never was able to put its foot down. The Mavericks just kept scoring.

There is no excuse. Especially with the revelation the Magic coaching staff noted the team’s third-quarter struggles before coming out of the locker room.

The Magic’s defense has been bad coming out of the locker room. Orlando gives up 111.4 points per 100 possessions, the third-worst mark in the league. The team has not exactly had fire coming out of the locker room.

Like with all things, injuries have played a role. But in the last five games, that mark is even worse.

In the last five games, the Magic have given up 132.6 points per 100 possessions in the third quarter — all while scoring 94.0 points per 100 possessions.

This is not a matter of the Magic failing to make adjustments at halftime. This is a matter of the team simply not coming out of the locker room.

The third quarter is where the team got buried in a deep hole against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Saturday’s loss. And it is where the Magic lost control Tuesday against the Mavericks. Against a better team — like the ones Orlando plays next — a poor third quarter will only lead to more misery.

The numbers are pretty clear about how poorly the Magic play after halftime. But the reason why is still a bit unknown.

Orlando Magic

Vogel’s claim that the team is not tough enough certainly rings true with how the team has played this year and in year’s past.

Orlando takes a punch and folds, allowing its defense to collapse and going into a seeming panicked mode offensively, trying to create shots and keep pace. Rather than doing what is necessary — buckling down defensively.

What is most frustrating of all of this is the Magic showed in the first half how capable they are at playing defense at a high level. These glimpses show the team is more than capable of playing defense at a high level for long enough and playing with the requisite “toughness.”

Then again, toughness is being able to persevere too. And this team does not do that. How many times will the bottom seemingly drop out on this group before it puts its foot down?

The Magic left a winnable game on the table. The Mavericks took it from them and the Magic rolled over.

Something happened in the locker room or keeps happening in the locker room that sends this team spiraling.

Next: Grades: Dallas Mavericks 114, Orlando Magic 99

As vague as it sounds, Vogel’s estimation is right. This team is not tough enough.