Orlando Magic keep finding ways to bounce back

The Orlando Magic are a gnat no team can get rid of. As they continue their Playoff push, they keep finding ways to bounce back and show their resolve.

Aaron Gordon made a mistake. And he knew it. A play later, Evan Fournier made a mistake. And he knew it.

Both came at a critical moment. The game hung in the balance and the team made errors.

This was a repeat of the Orlando Magic’s problems before and the thing that many believe could keep them out of the Playoffs. If they do not overcome these errors, their season will end in disappointment now that they have raised their expectations.

The Magic are not the best team late in games and have had their share of late-game foibles. Even in the last few weeks, let alone the last six years.

Part of the scars the Magic are hoping to heal are these gaffes that seem to cost them sure wins. The Magic fully admit they would have more wins today and be more comfortable in the Playoff race if they had taken care of business in December and January.

If there is one thing that differentiates this team from those others is none of that matters. The past is gone — a lesson already learned. The next play matters and how a player responds matters more than anything else.

In a series of plays, the Magic made a seven-point lead look precarious and uncertain. All in the span of about 30 seconds. In just as quick of time, the players who made those mistakes quickly erased them from their memories and ensured the Magic had a win.

First, Aaron Gordon tried to get the ball to Isaiah Briscoe to start the Magic’s offense. But Isaiah Briscoe was not ready for it. The Indiana Pacers quickly intercepted the half-hearted pass and had a fast break and an easy chance to cut into the lead.

Gordon did not allow it. He chased down Darren Collison and blocked his layup out of bounds along the baseline. Not celebrating his victory, he raised his hand to say it was his fault and his lapse of judgment. It was, but he recovered to make a positive play.

Collison got his revenge too, draining a desperation three to cut the lead to four. That is when the Pacers made their next big play. On the inbounds, Thaddeus Young ripped the ball away from Evan Fournier along the baseline and fed it to Wesley Matthews for the lay in.

It was now a two-point game. One possession separated the two teams. And the Magic would need to make one more play to secure the victory. The game hung in the balance.

Fournier would get his chance for redemption.

He sized up his man and came across a screen from Nikola Vucevic. Fournier pulled up for three and buried it. His teammates mobbed him as the Pacers called timeout. The Magic had clinched the game — and would go on to win 117-112.

Moving on, moving up

The Magic have had plenty of times both within games and between games where they could have given into the frustrations of their own mistakes. That was the way this team went the last six years.

That is not the way things are going now. The Magic instead are responding and fighting back to anything that falls in their way. That might be the true secret to their success. Nothing lingers and they never lose faith they can secure a victory.

It has happened time and time again.

Aaron Gordon put the blame on himself for the foul that led to Lauri Markkanen‘s game-winning free throws against the Chicago Bulls. He followed that up with a strong defensive effort against the Toronto Raptors, including seven rebounds and six assists. He has certainly refocused his defensive efforts since that lapse.

Terrence Ross struggled to shoot against the New York Knicks, making just 1 of his 10 shots (and that one coming late with the game already decided). He followed that up by rediscovering his shooting stroke to spark the team to a win over the Golden State Warriors.

Then Ross came back from first-half struggles to score 16 points in the fourth quarter, supercharging the Magic offense and pushing them into the lead.

There could have been time for the team to mope or accept their fate or accept this was not their night.

But that is not in this team’s character. Not anymore.

A new character

The Magic are quickly finding out what they are made of each night. They are quickly discovering how much effort and attention it takes to win on a nightly basis.

It takes the ability to put mistakes and missteps behind you and to make a play to make up for it.

To win, it takes players selling out for each other. Making up for that mistake is about making it up to your teammates more than anything else. Feeling that responsibility has changed the Magic’s whole outlook and its results.

Gordon’s act of blocking that shot was just as important as his acknowledgment to his teammates of his error. They all have that responsibility to each other. And they seem to prove it on the floor every night.

Ross probably said it best in a social media post after the Knicks game. He will continue to keep shooting. His teammates have the faith to keep going to him. That confidence will keep growing.

It is continuing to grow.

This Magic team is not perfect. They still have their flaws. They make these mistakes and fall in the first place still.

But Orlando keeps finding ways to fight back and give itself a chance to win. Every night, they have the belief they can win no matter the deficit. All that matters is the next play and pushing each other along.

The team keeps learning and growing from mistakes. And, more importantly, they find ways to erase them and make a play to make up for them. Or get a game to make up for them.

Where the Magic found this reserve is up for debate. Things have clicked with a new coach and they are buying into each other. The excitement of a Playoff chase has given them a new motivation.

This new resilience and response are what is most different about this team. And they keep finding ways to succeed.