Orlando Magic’s fast starts consistently fading away

The Orlando Magic have followed the same pattern since the All-Star Break. The starting lineup gets a fast start and then quickly fades away.

The Orlando Magic were happy to begin to feel whole again after the All-Star Break. The team was playing well entering the break, but the margin for error still felt razor thin. What they were doing likely would not last. And so getting back two of the team’s leading scorers in Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon were a welcome sight.

There would be an adjustment period for sure. Both players had missed pretty significant time — Aaron Gordon nine games and Nikola Vucevic nearly two months — but both could make an immediate impact.

Through three games after the All-Star Break, that impact is plain to see. At least, right from the tip.

That was true Monday against the Oklahoma City Thunder, just as it was true against the New York Knicks on Thursday and the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday.

Gordon came out firing, scoring 13 of his 18 points in the first quarter. Vucevic too was strong, adding his share of points early in the game. Steven Adams was not so interested in venturing to the 3-point line where Nikola Vucevic started firing away.

Orlando put up 38 points in the first quarter, another strong first quarter after the All-Star Break. The Magic had 41 in the loss to the Knicks on Thursday too. And Orlando raced to a nine-point lead in Philadelphia before the team struggled in the second half of the quarter, giving up the lead and taking forever to recover.

The Magic’s starting lineup has been dominant in the first quarter since the All-Star Break. The group of D.J. Augustin, Evan Fournier, Jonathon Simmons, Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic posts a 142.3 offensive rating and 107.8 defensive rating in the opening 12 minutes.

The offense alone is astronomical, even in these small sample sizes. This is a group that has reached a good flow and has come ready to play. The return of these two important players seems to energize the team at the beginning of games.

The defense is not destroying anyone — the Thunder more than stayed in the game despite those 38 points as the Magic just kept making shots and kept holding onto the lead. But Orlando is simply outscoring opponents.

That, of course, does not last. The Magic have lost all three of their games since the All-Star Break. Each seemingly the same way. The fast starts give way to the fall to earth and then the scramble to stay competitive.

And so something has gone awry between the first and fourth quarters. The Magic have had to scramble to stay in those games eventually, squandering their hot starts offensively.

The Magic’s starting lineup, as good as they are in the first quarter, have a more reasonable and solid 107.5/98.6 offensive/defensive rating split overall. That is a healthy, productive lineup. They are playing some decent defense it seems and helping the Magic get back into games.

Indeed, much like the loss to the 76ers on Saturday, the Magic’s starters helped key a comeback from down 10 points to give the Magic at least a puncher’s chance in Monday’s defeat. Evan Fournier started getting hot in the fourth quarter and Jonathon Simmons aggressively attacked the basket.

But the Magic were making up ground.

It is no surprise a team that is struggling to collect wins has some depth issues. Since the All-Star Break, the Magic have a 106.3 offensive rating and 115.3 defensive rating. Considering the Magic’s starters splits, that is a pretty big fall once that group breaks up.

It does not seem possible for a team to work so well together to start games and then play so poorly otherwise. And it seems odder to see thing tails off. There are things coach Frank Vogel can do. But his options seem limited. Especially when there seems to be little consistency.

As good as the starting lineup is in the first quarter, the team struggles in the third quarter.

That same starting lineup posts a 71.6 offensive rating and a 97.7 defensive rating. The defense shows up in the third quarter. But the team leaves the offense in the locker room. And the game completely changes from there.

Vogel said after the game his team has gotten off to hot starts, as the numbers show. But that seems to snap the opponents’ defense to attention. And then the Magic struggle to take that counterpunch.

The bench certainly is not helping matters, seemingly deepening that gap in the third quarter and forcing the team to scramble.

Maybe the Magic’s starting lineup and its strengths in the first and fourth quarters is a sign of hope. Maybe it is more of the same and merely an anomaly.

The team is somewhere in the middle. And Orlando’s real problem lies in a bench unit that remains bereft of scoring or consistent creation — Mario Hezonja not quite ready to take over a lineup by himself. If the Magic truly wanted to win, a nine-man rotation still seems like the team’s best bet. Putting a starter in that group to lead the way could give it some more offensive bite.

More likely these numbers are too small a sample to draw any conclusions. Something works with the current group, but it does not last. It does not go for 48 minutes, as Vogel and all the players point out.

The Magic are playing the right way and trying to deliver wins in one breath and not playing well enough in another.

Everyone seems to have some idea on how to fix the team — with differing motivations behind those fixes. The reality is the Magic probably need a bit more patience with what they have and what they have returning to the lineup.

The Magic are expecting to get more reinforcements back in the form of Terrence Ross and Jonathan Isaac soon. Jonathan Isaac should return for Wednesday’s game. That will improve the team’s depth and bench. But it will also come with its own transition.

Both Vucevic and Gordon, playing their third games since returning from injury, still have to get their legs under them and their conditioning back. If that is the case, the early returns certainly should encourage the Magic and make them believe there are good things to come.

Next: Grades: Oklahoma City Thunder 112, Orlando Magic 105

But Orlando also has to fix this pattern now. Each of the Magic’s three games since the All-Star Break have followed the same pattern. The team looks like the 8-4 team and gets out to a fast start. Then they fade quickly and have to scramble to stay in the game.