Orlando Magic will test their mettle in how they respond to defeat

Another 30-point loss feels like it will be another crushing blow to the Orlando Magic. How this new team responds will reveal a lot about this group.

The Charlotte Hornets have had the Orlando Magic’s number for several years now. Twelve straight victories in the series after their 120-88 win at the Amway Center on Friday. Among those 12 have been games exactly like this — lopsided defeats where the Magic were unable to corral Kemba Walker or get any type of offensive rhythm going.

There have been plenty of visages of Kemba Walker coming around a screen clean with Nikola Vucevic hanging back waiting for a drive that would never come as Walker drains a shot. Plenty of plays like when Nicolas Batum ran the pick and roll and found Cody Zeller running down the middle of the lane. This time he would rise for a two-handed jam over both Mohamed Bamba and Aaron Gordon.

All this is unfortunately familiar. So too is the feeling after a 30-point loss. That somber feeling of defeat and frustration. Orlando has seen plenty of those in the last six years.

Those losses have been a reminder of how far things had fallen for the team, often leaving a locker room quiet and forlorn. A team searching for its fight or a sign the season had slipped away. Those losses — especially the ones at home — were a gut punch.

Even the next game did not seem to bring much of a happier disposition. They were just another game in the long slog of the season.

Such is the lot of a team at the bottom of the standings. But that is not the case this year. Or the Magic hope that will not be the case.

This is the second game of a long 82-game schedule. And the Magic’s biggest test of the early season comes now: How do you respond to one of these typically soul-crushing defeats? Will this time be any different?

"“The growth, the maturity. We still have another opportunity tomorrow,” Terrence Ross said. “It’s only game two. It’s a long season but we’re trying to make changes now. We’re not trying to wait two or three months from now. It’s really about our attention to detail. We really have to come prepared tomorrow.”"

In the last six years, Orlando has lost 20 games by more than 30 points. In the next game after those defeats, the Magic have come away with a win eight times and lost by fewer than 10 points in four more of those games.

Generally then, the Magic show fight and at least make a game of it in the following contest. But too often those devastating deficits are in play.

The next blowout is around the corner.

Especially recently, Orlando has done a good job fighting back from those major defeats and showing some resolve. The most recent victory in these situations came when the Orlando Magic returned home from a loss to the San Antonio Spurs and defeated the Milwaukee Bucks behind 30-point games from Jonathon Simmons and D.J. Augustin last year.

These are NBA teams and NBA players. After big losses like this, they are bound to show some fire and some resolve. Even on short rest.

But this remains the big question for the team. When the team gets punched in the stomach or faces some adversity, how will they respond? Will the Magic buck up and fight and look to get better? Or will they shrivel and struggle once again? Will they make things worse?

"“In the NBA, if you want to be a good team, you have to be able to improve on bad losses quickly,” Nikola Vucevic said. “You can’t dwell on things. But at the same time, you have to take a moment and study what happened, why things went wrong tonight, why was it so bad and turn around quickly and come back tomorrow and be ready to play.”"

That was a lesson Nikola Vucevic imparted on rookie Mohamed Bamba. After his first crushing defeat, a game where he struggled as he missed all four of his shots to go with five rebounds and a blocked shot, Vucevic gave him the sage NBA advice not to get too high or too low. There is always another game.

In this case, it is Saturday against the Philadelphia 76ers. A difficult team to be sure, but another opportunity for the team to prove itself and show it can fight back.

As things went Friday, the Magic did some good things. Despite giving up 51 points in the first half, Orlando’s defense was largely solid. The team held Charlotte to 39.1 percent shooting. If not for a flurry of 3-pointers at the end as Kemba Walker started to get cooking, the Magic were certainly still in the game.

Orlando Magic

As coach Steve Clifford said, there was no question about the team’s effort or energy level throughout the night. Orlando was doing a lot of good things on the defensive end to keep the game closer than it should have been considering the team’s poor offensive performance.

The Magic’s offense struggled so much to generate any kind of dribble penetration or decent looks at the basket that eventually the team could no longer sustain the defensive effort.

"“The guy most in charge of how we play is me,” Clifford said. “I just told them, I have to help them more. But offense is why it’s a lot harder than defense, offense is being on the same page in terms of how you have to play. We have to play faster. The ball has to get up and down the floor. And we’ve got to get the defense on the move. We did that a lot better the other night than we did tonight.”"

Clifford said the team needed a better “offensive purpose of play.” The Magic on Friday night did not do a good job staying on the attack and getting into the paint. That will be the point of emphasis when the team meets before the next game.

He added teams can often look terrible one night and then completely different the next night. In this early stage of the season as teams settle in and get used to each other, there can be wide variances.

There is no panic in this team after that loss.

As Evan Fournier remembered after the game, the Orlando Magic scored a big victory over the Miami Heat in the opener last year before taking what many considered a bad loss to the Brooklyn Nets the following outing. The team then proceeded to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers with LeBron James by 21 points — without Aaron Gordon too.

How they respond will be telling about which direction they will go and whether they are truly buying in. Saturday night is another night and another game.

And another test for this young group to bring change to the Magic.