Orlando Magic Grades: San Antonio Spurs continue to expose Magic’s youth

The Orlando Magic should have known it was going to be a fairly long night early on.

On the Magic’s second possession of the game, the team set up a solid pick and roll that brought Wendell Carter right in front of the rim. He missed the layup, grabbed the ball and gathered to go up again. Dejounte Murray blocked it.

No worries, Carter got the rebound again, only for Drew Eubanks to block his shot.

Not the start he wanted — he would shoot 1 for 10 in the first quarter. Certainly not the start the Magic wanted and maybe the sign for the difficulties that would come.

Orlando’s offensive burst appears to have slowed after a second straight game struggling to hit 90 points. The team is more than happy to keep shooting threes and even over-relying on them. And that is affecting everything else.

The San Antonio Spurs powered through with their fast break off every miss and built a 10-point lead in the first quarter. The Magic’s offense just never mustered enough consistency and the Spurs hit shots at every key moment to turn away any run.

San Antonio maintained its double-digit lead for much of the game in a 102-89 victory at Amway Center. The Magic just were not consistent enough on either end to overcome the early hole they found themselves in. There was no getting over the hump.

The Orlando Magic continue to look like a young team struggling to break cold streaks and giving up big runs that knock them out of the game.

Orlando shot 39.3-percent of its shots and only 12 of 41 3-pointers (29.3-percent). The team turned the ball over 18 times for 17 points.

San Antonio had its own shooting struggles throughout the game. Orlando was always able to settle in. But it was usually to tread water. And, in the end, it was those turnovers that did the team in.

The Magic committed nine of those 18 turnovers in the fourth quarter, killing any chance at a comeback. Again, the Magic’s youth — especially five turnovers apiece from guards Cole Anthony and Jalen Suggs — was served. The team was unable to get themselves out of the hole they dug for themselves.

And that added up to another loss. Another double-digit defeat. Another game where the Magic were not really competitive, even if the Spurs were unable to completely pull away until the end of the game.

Orlando seems good enough to keep itself in the conversation. But not good enough to get to the end of the game.

Player Grades

Cole Anthony – B

Cole Anthony continues to be the best thing the Orlando Magic have going for themselves offensively. He scored 21 points on 8-for-18 shooting and fill up the stat sheet with nine rebounds and six assists. After struggling against the Boston Celtics, he was back to his normal confidence, zooming in and out of the lane and constantly being on the attack.

The Magic may have come out with a negative plus/minus with Anthony on the floor in this one. But it remains that Orlando functions at a much higher level with Anthony on the floor. It is easy to forget how young he still is. Anthony keeps this team fighting and gives the team a really good heartbeat.

Anthony still makes young player mistakes. And the turnovers were a product of him getting stuck without an exit play, the team’s poor execution and late decisions. The whole team needed to make better decisions about how they attack and finish at the rim. Anthony is still the best at this. It is hard to say how much worse this team would be without him right now.

Jalen Suggs – B-

Jalen Suggs is starting to find his groove a little bit. Yes, he too had five turnovers, and he probably forces his play a whole lot more. And his jumper is still a bit of a mess — he made one of his six 3-point attempts. But Suggs is starting to play at a better pace and control and find his scoring pockets.

This felt like the first game where Suggs attacked the basket with aggression and displayed the creativity to finish around the basket. He absorbs contact in the air really well and maintains his balance to finish. It may not always be pretty, but Suggs can get the ball to the hoop and finish.

He just needs to get going downhill. Defenses can still trap him and speed him up. But Suggs is getting better at controlling this pace.

Suggs finished with 12 points on 4-for-11 shooting. Not exactly killing it. But there are some clear signs of Suggs’ growing confidence and progress.

R.J. Hampton – B

R.J. Hampton can still be a bit wild. That is something the team probably needs from him to some extent. His speed can create some chaos and questions for the defense. Hampton just has to be the one controlling that speed. And he is slowly getting there, especially now that Orlando does not lean on him to run the offense.

Hampton scored 11 points off the bench, making four of seven shots and all three of his 3-pointers. He is starting to show a lot more comfort from beyond the arc and confidence to shoot. And he continues to be an intriguing attacking option, even if he remains a bit wild.

Gary Harris & Terrence Ross – C-

The Orlando Magic have a lot of young players who have shown the inconsistency of their youth. What the team really needs is stability. They need players who can right the ship and calm them down when they go through droughts and seem set to give into frustration.

Young players know they are doing this. But they are struggling to stop it from taking over during games. So where are the veterans? Where is the stability Terrence Ross and Gary Harris are supposed to give?

Ross struggled a ton, missing both of his shots in the game and turning it over three times (all in the fourth quarter).

The fact Ross is taking only two shots is concerning. Orlando does not seem able to get him open and defenses are putting all their attention on him. The Magic are struggling with the secondary actions that Ross needs to spring open and his production has hurt the most for it.

Harris is just plain struggling, unable to reclaim what worked for him throughout his career. He was coming back for the first time in three games from a sprained ankle. Maybe he gets a pass for that. But he scored three points on 1-for-6 shooting. In this game, he shot too quickly and did not help move the ball.

So again, where are the veterans?

San Antonio Spurs – B+

The San Antonio Spurs were not able to pull away from the Orlando Magic in this one. They were not able to really put some distance between the two teams. Yet, they were never threatened either. Their defense forced the Magic into their stagnant offense rather than moving and passing that characterizes their successful moments.

The Spurs got 20 points each from Dejounte Murray and Keldon Johnson. They got out in transition off the Magic’s mistakes. Orlando slowed them down some, but nowhere near enough. The Spurs always got a tough mid-range jumper. The Magic were not able to get into the Spurs physically enough to slow them down.

Orlando falls to 2-8 on the season. The team continues its homestand Sunday against the Utah Jazz.