The Orlando Magic were chasing the Toronto Raptors from behind the 3-point line all night. The Raptors never truly let them catch up in an easy win.
Mario Hezonja was not going to let the score get in the way of his effort. He was going to play to the final buzzer.
Vegas probably wishes he did not. His late 3-pointer helped the Orlando Magic get a push against the Toronto Raptors. That was about the only positive thing anyone could say about anything related to the score in Orlando’s 112-101 loss to Toronto at Air Canada Centre on Sunday.
The Raptors jumped the Magic fairly early with a three-point barrage. Orlando fought back, getting enough of a reprieve and enough of a scoring burst from Aaron Gordon to cut the lead to four. And then they saw the Raptors’ bench pull the lead back out, making 3-pointers the Magic were not able to get out and defend.
Toronto hit 17 of 40 3-pointers in the game. Orlando made just 7 of 23. That difference was far too great to make up. Even if coach Frank Vogel believed his team played an overall fine game, the Magic did not have enough to contest those 3-pointers. Toronto was always able to slowly pull away.
The Magic were not going to go back to their main starters in the fourth quarter. Not in this game or with how the season has played out. They let the young guys fight to cut the lead to a more respectable final margin.
This is how the end of the season goes, though. Better teams are able to go through the motions and defeat teams with other goals in mind. It was not that the Magic did not play hard or play well in every phase. It was more that the team struggled to make the second and third efforts a good team has to make to win.
And who could blame them? There is not much to play for if you are the Magic right now. So the little spurts of effort are when the team reveals what it can do. The generic meandering through the game is what this team was really about.
Next: Finding a role for Bismack Biyombo remains difficult
The Orlando Magic play their final road game of the season Monday as they take on the Milwaukee Bucks.