2021 Orlando Magic Playoff Lessons: Brooklyn Nets’ title was lost on the margins

Sometimes, it is purely dumb luck or inches that can swing a title one way or the other.

Yes, there are seemingly impossible plays that can swing a title from one direction to another. Giannis Antetokounmpo’s block in Game 4 of the NBA Finals was an incredible individual read that literally opened the door for the Milwaukee Bucks to win the title.

But they would not have been there to have that moment or win in six games if not for a few inches. Literally just a big toe.

The Brooklyn Nets have had to stew on this reality this entire offseason. They were a mere inches away from winning their epic Game 7 with the Bucks and advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals.

With time running out in the fourth quarter of Game 7, the Nets trailed by two points and Kevin Durant rose up for one of those unstoppable jumpers. It looked like a three. But his foot was only slightly over the line. The game was tied instead of a Nets lead with a little more than one second left.

The game went to overtime and the Bucks held on for one of the best Game 7 wins in NBA history.

That is the difference between winning and losing a title. Again, the Nets have had to stew on this — with at least Kyrie Irving and James Harden asserting that if they were fully healthy they would have won the series and the title easily.

The Brooklyn Nets missed advancing by a big toe in Game 7. If there is a lesson for the Orlando Magic from them, it is how random luck plays a role in success or failure.

That will be the statement they try to make this season with their second year together and second year with Steve Nash. Brooklyn has added plenty of ring-chasing veterans to go for the golden trophy once again.

But the lesson remains, championships are not guaranteed even to the most talented teams in the league. Even for them, wins turn on single plays and single moments that swing momentum or, quite literally in this case, extend a game longer than it should.

The Philadelphia 76ers experienced this in 2019 when Kawhi Leonard’s shot bounced four times off the rim and in to send the Toronto Raptors to the next round. Who knows what a 76ers-Bucks Eastern Conference Finals would have looked like or how NBA history would have changed if the Raptors did not make that title run.

The Orlando Magic often think about what would have happened if Nick Anderson had made just one of those four free throws. Lots of people believe the Magic would have won the series if they had won that game to start the 1995 NBA Finals. The Game 1 loss pierced their seemingly impenetrable, youthful confidence.

The 2009 Magic certainly can point to several moments — probably most of all Pau Gasol’s uncalled Game 2 goaltend off the Courtney Lee lob but also Kobe Bryant’s potential push off that sent Jameer Nelson sprawling back to the 3-point line as kicked out to Derek Fisher in overtime of Game 4. Even in a five-game series, the Magic point to two clear moments that flipped their series on its head.

Every title can seemingly turn on these plays — a made basket or a miss, a call or a no-call, or, in this case, a three that was two inches too close.

At this moment, the Magic are about as far away from a championship as they possibly could be. But it goes to show that even at the highest level, random things can determine whether a season ends in a title or not.

The same could be said throughout the season for much smaller goals.

Brooklyn Nets

The Memphis Grizzlies could claim they lost homecourt advantage in the play-in tournament and perhaps a shot at facing the Los Angeles Lakers for the 7-seed because of Cole Anthony’s game-winning shot.

The Orlando Magic needed a frenzied comeback against the Boston Celtics in the penultimate game of the 2019 season to make their final game meaningless and clinch a playoff spot.

They actually tied that season with the Detroit Pistons and Brooklyn Nets for the six-seed and ended up seventh because of tiebreakers. Flipping a win to a loss somewhere along the way can drastically change the season for any team at anywhere.

It can literally be the difference between hitting a shot with three seconds to play or two seconds to play. The difference, again, between a 2- and a 3-pointer.

The Nets know this and that is why there was little panic as they looked to reload ahead of the upcoming season.

They will have a full — and hopefully healthy — year with Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and James Harden in the lineup. They still have a great shooter in Joe Harris and added more in Patty Mills. They have an interesting cast of bigs and versatile wings they can throw out. But a lot of their future revolves around their stars and what they can do.

At the end of the day, those stars make them a handful to guard, especially in the playoffs. Even with two of those stars available, they pushed the eventual champions to overtime in Game 7. Brooklyn is rightly considered a favorite to win the East.

The Magic’s season will have many of these seemingly random moments.

Stealing a win early might engender confidence and buy-in and lead the team on a crazed run. It is amazing how much close wins can inflate young teams.

The Charlotte Hornets at 18-13 were the sixth-best team in clutch situations by record. They were the surprise team that made the Play-In Tournament, only fading late because of a series of close losses.

That will not be everything. The Magic will have a lot of work to do to be competitive this coming season. And they are not likely to see these small moments that completely flip a season in one way or the other.

Still, it is important to remember just how small the margins are between success and failure. It can be something as small as a ping pong ball bouncing the wrong way or the team ahead of you taking the player you did not expect.

Every NBA team really operates on the margins like this. And what they have to do is take advantage of the luck when it bounces their way or minimize the bad luck when it turns up.