Orlando Magic have ‘found themselves’ but still have much to learn

The Orlando Magic have played three strong games and appear to have found themselves again. That can lead to wins, but the team must nurture confidence.

There was a flash of the good times once again for the Orlando Magic once again.

The ball moved, the team scrapped and played ugly and the team fought. Fought hard.

It has seemingly been a long journey to get back to this point. The team’s 8-4 start long gone in the rearview mirror, mired in a stretch where the team lost 27 of its past 31 games. Everyone wondered when Orlando would hit rock bottom. And when, or if, the team might steady itself and climb back up.

Surely this team was not so bad that it would not right the ship even for a brief stretch and have some inspired play. And surely this team still had that good group in it.

Down 23 points to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first half and trailing by 20 points at halftime, it seemed the Magic were still stuck in that bottom. The good vibes from Tuesday’s win faded away with a lifeless, unenergetic effort on both ends. The Cavaliers toyed with the Magic to make 9 of 17 3-pointers and did whatever they wanted.

Then Aaron Gordon hit a couple of 3-pointers. Then Evan Fournier got to the basket and Elfrid Payton. And then Jonathon Simmons hit a jumper or two.

All of a sudden the Magic found themselves closer than they should have been. Slowly the grit and grind from early season wins against teams like the Memphis Grizzlies showed up.

Orlando Magic

On no play was that more evident than Jonathon Simmons steal and score. The Magic forced a loose ball and the ball sat there on the floor for someone to claim. One team just had to want it more.

Simmons had the angle and the drive. He picked up the ball and with a hesitation move at the 3-point line, exploded to the basket for a one-handed jam.

The Magic had cut the deficit to two. They now had the confidence and they were in the game.

Even as they missed shots down the stretch — at least two open ones from Aaron Gordon and another from Evan Fournier — their defense was there to hold them off. They trapped Isaiah Thomas in the corner to force a turnover. They got LeBron James to turn the ball over six times, trying to make risky cross-court passes. Orlando was scrapping.

That gave them the lead off an offensive rebound and putback from Shelvin Mack.

Even the game-winning play was arguably a good defensive play. Shelvin Mack appeared to tie up Isaiah Thomas on a drive. It could have easily been a jump ball — something both Frank Vogel and Aaron Gordon said after the game, with just a bit of partisan bias.

The call did not go the Magic’s way. Orlando could not overcome its poor first half in a 104-103 loss to Cleveland at Quicken Loans Arena on Thursday. But the Magic rediscovered something in the process.

As they have the last three games, the Magic played with a lot more fight than they had shown the last two months. The Magic are competitive again, showing themselves capable of beating anyone.

The frustration has mounted from nearly a half season of losing, but that fun, sometimes dominant team from the beginning of the season is peaking its head out more and more. Not for a full 48 minutes, but enough to inspire some confidence and hope again.

It took too long, but the Magic are putting their foot down. Maybe that adds more to the frustration.

The team, no longer numb to the defeats, seems tired of searching for moral victories. They seem tired of the losing. Maybe they seem tired of the whiff of change that is in the air (inevitable as it might be thanks to new management stepping in).

As late as it might be to save the season, the Magic have not been shy to talk about what they want to build the rest of the season. As delusional as it might sound, the Magic talked like they could find that good team in there again.

Vogel continues to push and drive his team to win, hoping to build the foundations of a winning culture in this team. At least some lesson for them to take elsewhere in their careers. Something clearly needed to change in Orlando. And it has to start somewhere.

In any case, they knew they could play together. If only they could pull together a win. And then another.

Momentum has always seemed against the Magic with the injuries mounting at the worst time in the schedule. The team hit its bottom and could not find a way up.

Following Friday’s loss to the Washington Wizards, there was definitely a bit more of a refresh. Vogel spoke highly of his team’s fight after that game. One could call it a moral victory. But skepticism was warranted. The Magic had rarely put together two good games in a row during this losing stretch.

Then came Tuesday’s win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. That win was a gritty, gutsy win where the Magic took the game late. They showed a willingness to fight in that game that had been missing before.

Orlando did that again Thursday, coming up just a bit short of completing their goal and earning a win. Wins remain elusive. This is still a team that has one win in its last three games. Hardly anything to write home about.

That might be where the deeper disappointment from players come. Again, Vogel was forced to say — in true moral victory form for a team with just 13 wins — the team played well enough to win and deserved more than their effort.

That remains the step the Magic cannot quite master.

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In that sense, Gordon’s sense that the team has found itself again is right. The Magic have found something in the last three games. Even if it is just a willingness not to quit. If they keep that up a few more wins should follow.

But there is still a lot more to learn. Rediscovering themselves or returning to something approximating that early season play is not enough to win games. Clearly.

The Magic had a major dropoff from Tuesday’s game to the first half of Thursday’s loss. A dropoff between a team capable of beating a good team like the Timberwolves and a team barely capable of staying on the floor.

The Magic continue to balance on that edge.

Next: Grades: Cleveland Cavaliers 104, Orlando Magic 103

Right now, they seem to have finally found that bit that resembles the good team from before. And with that, the Magic can begin rebuilding a foundation to grow from beyond this season.