The Orlando Magic hit rock bottom in a loss to the San Antonio Spurs. And quotes from that locker room were from a team knowing there is little to play for.
The scenes in the locker room following the Orlando Magic’s latest two performances showed the stunning contrasts that fall a team at the bottom of the standings.
With nothing to play for, where does a team find motivation? What does a team play for and how do they go about their work?
Tuesday night was the depths of despair. The team got blown out by 36 points on the road to end a long road trip. It would be easy to chalk it up to tired legs and jet lag and looking forward to being home — even with two days without a game in San Antonio.
That was not what was on their mind. Instead, the defeat brought a lot of soul-searching.
Wednesday was a team determined to make a stand and show some pride. A locker room that experienced some momentary relief from a disappointing season. Almost a sigh of relief before returning to reality Friday.
This season has been bad. There is no getting around it. The record says it — 21-48, the fourth-worst record in the league. There have been two nine-game losing streaks, two seven-game losing streaks and this recently concluded five-game skid. That is a lot of losing.
But there have been few losses like this one. Not like last year where they seemed to come in strings.
That was until this road trip. In three of the Magic’s five games, they were unable to produce offense or give themselves much of a chance to win. The Orlando Magic lost by 14 in scoring only 80 points in the road-trip opening loss to the Utah Jazz. Hardly the response to a 40-point loss to the Jazz in November.
The Orlando Magic scored just 88 points in a 94-88 loss to the Sacramento Kings without Evan Fournier and Aaron Gordon for the first time. The team was game energy-wise but did not have the efficiency to score very much against one of the worst defenses in the league.
Then came Tuesday. A season-low 76 points against the San Antonio Spurs. A game that saw the team’s leading scorers tally only 10 points. It was a game that required some major soul searching.
And the quotes that came out of that game suggested as much.
Nikola Vucevic expressed his frustration with another lost season to the media. The player who has fought as hard as anyone to make this rebuild work the last six seasons was falling short again.
"“It’s hard with this many games left and having nothing to play for,” Vucevic told John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com. “It’s not easy year after year after year for me. The frustration has really grown on me, especially the last two years. I felt like at some point we were going in the right direction, but then we took a turn downhill. It’s just tough. But hopefully we can finish the season the right way and represent the Magic, represent each other and our fans.”"
It felt like reading that quote the writing is on the wall for him. The Magic simply need to move on and start over with something new.
Mario Hezonja‘s quote after Tuesday’s game was even more revealing. He told Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel it felt like everyone was done with the season throughout the organization.
Certainly, it feels like there is an eye more toward the future. The final 15 games are merely a formality. And it has created an awkward feeling.
That must be a frustrating reality for players groomed to yearn for competition and winning. The last six years — and whatever portion they have been a part of — have certainly paid their toll.
Jonathon Simmons is a prime example — having hungered for a larger role and paying for that in wins.
The Magic, in the momentary way that NBA teams are capable of for one night, put their foot down and had an energetic effort to break their losing streak Wednesday against the Milwaukee Bucks. For one night, they used the embarrassment for fuel and played with some real pride.
That might be all they have to play for the rest of the year. And the question remains whether they can do it again for a second night and actually build some consistency.
The response to Tuesday night’s defeat was a positive sign. Orlando took that frustrating disappointment and turned it into something positive. They turned it into fire and focus. The team played inspired with career nights from Jonathon Simmons and D.J. Augustin. No one sees that play as sustainable.
And so the thought returns again to how the team got to this point and to the thoughts in that locker room earlier this week.
Orlando Magic
Coach Frank Vogel has continued to preach getting something out of this season. He — and by extension the organization — is not about to throw away the final games. Or at least they want to believe that. Vogel said he wants to build some type of foundation for next season. He said he believes the team’s “strong” finish last year helped build confidence to a fast start this year.
Although that was not enough to carry the team through some tough times. Now, the team has only tough times to think about.
The quotes from the depths of Tuesday’s loss are the signs of a team that knows things have gone off the rails. That happened a long time ago. It is the sign of a team that has seemingly let go of the rope too. That probably happened a long time ago.
There are still moments where things come together and the team delivers the victory they so desperately need. That is what NBA teams do.
But this team is playing out the string. And they appear to know it.
No matter how much a team intends to play hard through the string, that reality is inescapable. The season is meaningless. The results might have some small residual effect but may not carry over. And the roster likely will not carry over either.
Outside of Aaron Gordon and Jonathan Isaac, there are no future prospects to grow. Optimism for the fans is running low (just gauge reactions on Twitter after the stray win in this backwards world of tanking and Lottery odds). The future is harder than ever to see.
Next: Orlando Magic asking players to step up more
The Magic in these final games are a team playing out the string and searching for some meaning to make it worth their while.