At the midpoint of the season, Orlando Magic fighting undeniable feeling of “here we go again”

The Orlando Magic’s season has reached its midpoint. And the team is undeniably fighting its past demons as it tries to keep from fading again.

The Orlando Magic were trying to fight. There was some movement as the team was trying to bring some urgency to the game and fight their way back in it in the face of a surging run.

Nikola Vucevic was searching for someone to pass to and initiate the offense. But no one was coming. When someone finally popped free, Vucevic flung a pass toward him, but it was hesitant and unsure. The Utah Jazz pounced.

Raul Neto stole the ball and started taking off the other way. Nikola Vucevic for a brief moment threw his hands up in disgust. The frustration of the game had taken over. Orlando had lost grip of its lead and was now descending.

Vucevic quickly realized what he did and started to sprint back to try to challenge the shot. But Neto had him beat. The layup was good. And things were only going to get worst.

The Magic closed the first half of their season perhaps at the lowest point so far. And that familiar feeling of years past and the collapses that have ultimately doomed their seasons are starting to creep back in once again.

Maybe they have been lingering long before and the team fought them out. But it seems it is this moment where those demons will either win out or the team will find the resolve to make the postseason.

Right now, those demons are winning and the Magic are undeniably trending in the wrong direction at this critical juncture of the season.

In Wednesday’s game alone, the Magic lost a 21-point first-half lead, scored only 30 points in the second half (shooting 26.8 percent from the floor) and watched the Jazz race past them. Orlando, at the end of a long and arduous road trip, ran out of gas but also seemed to concede to growing frustration.

In the big picture, the Magic’s offense has hit a new low. The team shot worse than 40 percent for the third straight game — the longest such streak since 2015 and one shy of the team record set in 1998. Orlando has lost leads of 15 or more points in three of the last four games in this four-game losing streak.

More than that reality, the team is struggling to play at a high level consistently.

Too often the team has lost big leads. The bench has given games away. And the team seems not to bring the same attention to detail they need to win games. Their intensity comes and goes. Coach Steve Clifford has had to lament this in postgame press conferences far too often.

At the midpoint of the season, Orlando has not quite gained an identity. It is still difficult to say exactly how this team plays. The Magic know how they need to play — with physical defense, motion on offense and passing and movement — but they do not play that way all the time.

The only thing that seems consistent is the team’s poor offensive output — one of the worst in the entire league. When it was running hot, the Magic were able to hover around .500. But in this latest stretch, the team has not done so. And the results are what anyone would expect.

Overall, the Magic have now lost 12 of the past 17 games to fall to 17-24 at the midpoint. The Eastern Conference is forgiving enough to leave them 2.5 games out of the final Playoff spot and a glimmer of hope.

The season is far from over for the team. But it is certainly on the edge.

The Magic are fading even in this Eastern Conference race. The Washington Wizards have caught them in the standings. And while there is a wide gulf between them and the next tier of teams, the Magic’s hopes of making the Playoffs are getting on thinner ice.

Most of the players on this Magic team have not experienced meaningful basketball like this at this point of the season.

In 2016, the Magic were 20-21 at the midpoint of the season and one game out of the final Playoff spot. But they were in the midst of an eight-game losing streak which all but sealed their fate — despite the poor attempt to salvage the season.

This is uncharted territory for them. And those bad habits as things get tough begin to creep in.

They certainly did on this road trip. Teams upped their defensive intensity on them and exposed their flaws. Orlando did not have an answer offensively and their inconsistent defense was left exposed. The resolve from earlier in the season leaving them. The Magic no longer can win ugly. They can barely win even when the offense is working effectively.

They have to regroup and find their balance now or else the season will get lost.

The urgency is probably even greater with the trade deadline coming quickly. The Magic are in a position where they are desperate to make the Playoffs and are not likely to ruin their chances to make the postseason by trading away a key player. But they are not going to make a move to sneak in that hurts the team’s long-term outlook.

If Orlando is going to decide to trade expiring contracts like Terrence Ross and Nikola Vucevic, they will make their conclusions in the next week or two.

The Magic’s season will either turn for the better and lead to a Playoff push now or the team may very well be satisfied to begin playing for the future. Or whatever approximates that.

That is the position the Magic have left themselves in at the midpoint.

They have shown their strengths throughout the season and their potential to compete. But they have also shown the old habits die hard. This team still has a lot of growing to do.

At the midpoint of the season, time is running out to make that growth permanent and make the Playoff push they are desperate to make.