Orlando Magic not finding meaning in final games

The Orlando Magic are limping to the end of the season. With little to play for and no time to build anything permanent, the Magic are searching for purpose.

The time ticked off the Orlando Magic’s 102-86 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, closing the doors for regular season basketball at BMO Harris Bradley Center on Monday. It was another loss where the Magic were unable to sustain some otherwise encouraging play for a full game.

Like so much of this season, the team has seemingly given in to the frustration and pointlessness of the season.

The good news? There are now just 48 minutes left in the Magic’s season.

Mercifully, it seems. The final countdown is on with just the lone game against the Washington Wizards at Amway Center left.

No one would excuse the Magic for looking far ahead to the end of the season. That would be human nature. The will to fight for something that does not actually exist is always going to be short.

The team can preach professionalism and preach trying to finish things the right way, but everyone knows the reality of the situation. Everyone knows how little there is to play for. And it is not like new president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman is going to keep this group together — not in the same way as might have been the case in the last few years.

The Magic, in a very real sense, seem like they are getting ready to start over. And so these last games of the season have been devoid of meaning. And the Magic have largely played them that way.

There is one game left. And no real clear goal of what the Magic want to accomplish. Or even what the Magic can accomplish.

Are they trying to get their young players more minutes? Are they trying to build winning habits? Or are they trying to build momentum for next season? Maybe they are still trying to get wins? Or sink further down the standings?

It is not entirely clear what the team wants. They send so many mixed messages.

Orlando played some inspired defensive basketball through the first 2.5 quarters Monday night in Milwaukee. The Magic had the lead up to as much as seven points in the third quarter as they fought back time and again. They were gumming up the Bucks all night long.

Then it all stopped. Milwaukee seemed to find a spurt of energy at the end of quarters and when its second unit came into the game. Eventually, that avalanche became too big. The will to fight back gave way.

With nothing to play for against a Bucks team energized by a raucous home crowd, the Magic simply lost their effort. The fight that characterized that lead dissipated. And the Magic were seemingly going through the motions.

That is not something Orlando can do even at full strength. And the results were obviously bad when it happened with this group. It was not that the Bucks turned anything on . . . the Magic just kind of tuned out, unable to take a final punch and seemingly willing to let it go at the end.

Coach Frank Vogel said transition defense and rebounding are usually the first things to go when a team is not putting forth the proper effort. Throughout the second half, that was evident.

So the team trying to win is not quite putting forth the effort they need.

It is more than just the blowout loss from Friday. The team just seemed to be going through the motions even with starters like Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon in the game.

Their minutes — Nikola Vucevic played 29 fairly productive minutes and Aaron Gordon played nearly 32 minutes — cut into the minutes for young players like Khem Birch (10 points and nine rebounds in 16 minutes), Rodney Purvis (18 minutes) and Jamel Artis (nearly 20 minutes).

Then again, outside of Khem Birch, it is hard to say any of those players made much of an impact. They are not going to help too much with winning. And while they have shown encouraging signs, they are not likely rotation-caliber players in the end.

So are the Magic trying to invest in their future? Even there, their habits are not encouraging.

Gordon, likely the Magic’s star free agent signing this summer, has meandered through games. With an opportunity to put his imprint on the team and take ownership and leadership of this group (or whatever remains) heading into next season, Gordon has played things relatively safe.

At times, he forced things too much. In fact, that has probably characterized his play for a long period of time.

He shot 5 for 14 for the game and turned it over six times. He is 32 of his last 91 field goals (35.2 percent). It is hard to say he has taken a ton of good shots in that stretch, oftentimes forcing his shots more. Things got worse for him as he turned it over six times.

Orlando Magic

More and more it looks like he is looking ahead to what will surely be a busy summer. But bad habits have crept in for him. There were several players where cutters ran right past him and he did not get physical for a box out or fight for a rebound. His play was generally sloppy.

Maybe he is scaling back his effort to stay healthy for the offseason. That is understandable. But that is not ultimately what you want to build.

This should not erase the work he has done all season. But it is not encouraging. It is hard to flip that switch. Culture is something you build through habits and repetition.

Then again, with the change expected this offseason and with such little time — just the one game remaining — there is no more time to build much of anything anyway. There is not a lot to do or accomplish.

That leads down that dark path.

The Magic at 24-57 are in a three-way tie with the Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks for the third-worst record in the NBA.

The lottery odds are calling as the Orlando Magic take on the Washington Wizards on Wednesday. A game the Wizards likely will need to win to improve their Playoff seeding.

The Dallas Mavericks close their season Tuesday against the Phoenix Suns, who have already clinched the worst record in the league. And the Atlanta Hawks wrap up Tuesday against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Orlando will enter Wednesday’s game knowing what a win or a loss would do to their odds. If such things matter to them.

It is hard to find much purpose to this final game. There are too many things the team might want to accomplish. . . and yet not enough time to accomplish any of it.

Next: Grades: Milwaukee Bucks 102, Orlando Magic 86

This season has finally limped to its end. There are just 48 minutes remaining.