Orlando Magic Grades: Orlando Magic go back-and-forth too much with Atlanta Hawks

The Orlando Magic were cruising comfortably offensively through much of the first half.

Cole Anthony had his juice back and played with a good pace to get into the lane and kick out. He was dishing the ball comfortably and was setting up his own shot. Things worked offensively in a way they have not in a while.

The Atlanta Hawks were trading baskets though. They were the ones getting to the foul line and keeping the pressure on. Neither team was able to get much separation.

Eventually, someone would. It was easier to bet that team would be the Hawks.

Atlanta made its move late in the second quarter to take the lead to the locker room. Then John Collins and Trae Young created more separation, extending the lead to 14. Lou Williams had a scoring burst to finish the third quarter.

The rest just seemed academic, even if the Hawks never pulled too far away from the Magic. Orlando could not get the stops it needed to close the gap. The defense just was not there in a 129-111 loss to the Hawks at State Farm Arena on Monday.

The Orlando Magic got involved in a back-and-forth affair they would always lose to the Atlanta Hawks. The team could not make a run to challenge on the road.

Orlando did plenty of things well offensively. But again, the Magic got frustrated when they hit some adversity and settled into shooting quick threes. Things got worse with frustration fouls that put the Hawks in the bonus early and even a few technical fouls handed out as frustration boiled over.

Atlanta got to the line for 32 free throws off 27 fouls. That was a huge difference considering Orlando took only 14 free throws in the game.

The Magic simply struggled defensively all game. The Hawks had three players score at least 20 points and Clint Capela and John Collins tore up the inside and the glass. The Magic were giving up one shot and plenty of second-chance opportunities.

The things that did work, Orlando could turn to. And the team stopped the bleeding to hold the deficit level.

But the Magic never made the push to cut into the lead and make this a game. Again, the Magic suffered from inconsistent play and the inability to stick with the gameplan and execute it through the full 48 minutes.

Player Grades

Cole Anthony – B+

Cole Anthony had two pretty low-energy games to end the homestand. He was struggling to get the team into its offense and to break down the defense. He was searching and overdribbling at times, shooting inefficiently and forcing his offense.

The Anthony that nearly won the Eastern Conference Player of the Week award two weeks ago returned to torture the Atlanta Hawks on Monday.

Anthony scored a game-high 29 points and dished out a career-high 11 assists. He was getting wherever he wanted on the floor and setting up his shots in rhythm. Anthony continues to put in games that are beyond good stats, bad team (that might be a fair way to characterize his 20-point game Saturday). He made 11 of 19 shots and 4 of 8 from beyond the arc.

The only bad part of Anthony’s game right now is his turnovers. He had six in this game as he was trying to do too much to create off the dribble and get the offense going. Anthony still is not the best playmaker in the world — although he has gotten significantly better — and still tries to do too much to carry this team.

Wendell Carter – B

Wendell Carter scored 10 of the Orlando Magic’s first 17 points in this game. He was excellent in pick and rolls, coming off screens to open space and confidently hitting jumpers. He has become especially good at the trailing 3-pointer Nikola Vucevic was good at. Carter’s development as a 3-point shooter is such a difference-maker for him (just as it was for Vucevic).

Carter finished with 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting and nine rebounds. That low field goal number is the biggest concern of all this. Carter scored just two points on 1-for-3 shooting in the second half. It was like he was not involved at all.

That probably had more to do with the lack of focus and execution the team was playing with. The guards seemed to try to take over too much and dribbled the air out of the ball, getting rid of the ball movement and spread offense that Carter his early looks.

Orlando has to keep Carter involved to find any kind of success this year.

R.J. Hampton – B

R.J. Hampton has strung together a few really nice games in a row. He is really embracing his defensive skills and has been a solid impactor on that end this year. His length will especially prove important.

More than that, no player has made bigger strides and improvements from the beginning of the season to this point. If there is hope the Magic might turn a corner or are making progress, Hampton’s development so far is a good sign of it.

At the beginning of the season, everyone dreaded the minutes Hampton would play at point guard. He was often wild and out of control offensively, turning the ball over and moving too quickly before anything could get set. He would attack when there was no place to attack.

Monday, R.J. Hampton was extremely patient in filling in for point guard minutes with Jalen Suggs out with a sprained ankle. He had the team moving at a solid clip while staying on the attack, especially in the second quarter.

Hampton finished with seven points, five rebounds and five assists in a pretty well-balanced game for him. It is a mystery why he played only 15 minutes.

Chuma Okeke – C

Chuma Okeke has had a really rough start to the season. It was not merely the bone bruise that kept him out of training camp, the preseason and the start of the season. His return has also seen him struggle within a new role and new expectations for the team.

Okeke is consistently taking some questionable shots, firing from three with the defense draped all over him and trying to attack off the dribble into traffic with very inconsistent results. It is not the worst thing in the world that he is trying to expand his game. Orlando is giving him the freedom to do so.

But Okeke is as guilty as anyone else for taking rushed and bad shots. He finished with seven points on 3-for-10 shooting.

That might be OK if Okeke were good defensively, which he largely has been this year. But Okeke struggled to guard some of the Atlanta Hawks’ quicker guards. He was guilty of a few blow-bys that got the bigs behind him in trouble.

Atlanta Hawks – B

The Atlanta Hawks are starting to perk up and find themselves a bit. Trae Young (23 points, six assists, 9-for-27 shooting, three 3-pointers) is starting to simmer a bit. John Collins (23 points) and Clint Capela (20 points, 16 rebounds) were both monsters inside as the Orlando Magic struggled to handle them despite their size.

Orlando just never really did a good job keeping Atlanta out of the paint. Even though Young shot poorly, he worked his way into the paint pretty consistently and the Magic’s defense was collapsed and scrambling much of the night.

Atlanta’s biggest issue is its defense and Orlando was able to take advantage of that. But in a game like this, the Hawks were able to outscore the Magic easily.

Orlando is 3-11 and 15th in the Eastern Conference. The Orlando Magic continue their road trip Wednesday against the New York Knicks.