Orlando Magic Grades: Orlando Magic 101, Washington Wizards 92

The Orlando Magic sent their fans home happy with an energetic win. It may have hurt their Lottery chances, but the Magic played hard to end the year.

The Washington Wizards were making their run, cutting a 10-point halftime deficit and taking the lead for a brief moment. It was a long road back for the Wizards. One that seemed full of struggle and frustration. But they were starting to assert themselves against an Orlando Magic team that was not playing any of its regular starters after the first half.

All Washington had to do was execute. Orlando was not going to lie down. The Magic were going to chase and make life hard. The Wizards were going to make their lives harder.

Washington missed free throws — 11 of them in total — and threw the ball around sloppily — 12 of them, but all seemingly coming at critical times in the third quarter. The Magic were taking advantage, getting out in transition and scoring. Or getting fouled. The Wizards were just out of sync.

Washington could never make a run. Bradley Beal could not hit from beyond the arc. Markieff Morris struggled from the field and that big push from the Wizards never came.

Orlando was able to pull away in the end despite its own poor shooting for a 101-92 win at the Amway Center. The Magic finish with the fifth-worst record in the league and an 8.8 percent chance to win the NBA Draft Lottery.

That surely will get at some Magic fans’ goat. It is a feeling coach Frank Vogel admitted after the game is understandable. But that was never the team’s approach.

The players have one job — to win. And the players who played for the Magic went out there and did it. They were not always efficient — 16 turnovers and 42.9 percent shooting. But they played hard throughout the game.

It started with Aaron Gordon hitting his first three 3-pointers in the game and the starters making the most of their 12 minutes on the floor in the first quarter. It continued with Khem Birch hustling on the glass and making defensive plays. And it kept going as player after player seemed willing to grind and get physical to end the season on a positive note.

The Lottery simply did not matter to them. All that mattered was this moment with their teammates.

The win might have been too little too late. It might have been completely irrelevant in the end. It was a meaningless, Pyrrhic victory. But that is how the Magic’s season will end. On a high for a terrible season.

Next: Orlando Magic sending off season to uncertain future

The Orlando Magic’s season ends at 25-57. The team will have the fifth-best odds to win the NBA Draft Lottery on May 15.