Orlando Magic’s only way to learn is to fail and try again

The Orlando Magic were wearing their frustrations on their faces throughout the latter half of their loss to the Brooklyn Nets.

Cole Anthony picked up a technical foul at one point after an angry dunk attempt over Deandre Bembry bounced off the rim harmlessly and he sprawled on the court unable to get a foul call. Meanwhile, James Harden was starting to get his traditional foul calls, instigating contact and daring the officials to give him the foul.

The Magic were beggin for explantations and hoping for some relief as they sought a way to get their offense going again.

Despite that perceived imbalance, the Magic had the lead with 6:44 to play after a Cole Anthony pull-up jumper. They tied the game on a Franz Wagner 3-pointer with 5:11 to play. Orlando had every opportunity to win.

For a team coming off a win Wednesday night in which the team closed on a strong kick, it was clear to feel the team’s confidence for this situation. They believed they were going to win. But they were chasing and proved easy to knock off-kilter.

That might be why the frustration was clearer. This was a team clawing for everything it could grab and still seemingly leaving it out of reach.

Still, this is a young team. And that youth was on display everywhere. From how the team could not hold onto its early lead and early momentum to the way coach Jamahl Mosley ended up managing his rotation to the frustration the team felt late in the game.

The Orlando Magic are still getting a lot of lessons from losses. As the team experiences close games, failure will be the greatest teacher for growth.

The Magic are going to have to learn a lot this year. And a lot of it is going to come from failure. The realy trick for this young team will be avoiding repeat mistakes and growing the next time they see these situations.

This might be the truest way this team gets measured this season.

"“We go for the next one and we just continue to work,” Mosley said after Friday’s loss. “We’ll watch the film and understand what we did and where we can continue to improve and where we can continue to grow. We did some really good things in this game. We competed. A couple of free throws here and there. A couple of stops here and there down the stretch. These are learning lessons that we will continue to get better from.”"

If this season is about learning lessons, Orlando got a big one on Friday night at Barclays Center.

They went toe-to-toe with a Kevin Durant-less Nets team late and came up a few possessions short, they lost a 19-point lead in the first half after dropping a 41-point opening quarter and they had the resolve to bounce back when the Nets took a lead of their own.

The Magic have gone through plenty of these moments so far this season where they have had to show resolve. And the most encouraging aspect of the last two games is that Orlando has withstood those punches and counterpunches better and laid a few shots of their own.

In the end Friday, it was the playmaking from the Nets that delivered them a 115-113 win.

LaMarcus Aldridge hit shot after shot over a switching and sometimes undersized team. The Nets dipped inside and the veteran bumped and avoided the traps coming his way, making a final basket with 17 seconds left to put the Nets up three by turning away from Jalen Suggs coming from the weak side to trap.

Brooklyn played the foul game from there to be wily in escaping with the win. But Orlando answered the call, the team just could not get the last stop or bucket it needed.

As the Magic called timeout after that Aldridge basket, Mosley could do nothing but smile. The veteran team had outsmarted his young team. More importantly, they maintained their poise in a moment that seemed chaotic for this young Magic squad.

And it is that calm in the storm that can only come through experience.

The Magic have shown it in some moments. But their season to this point has been characterized more by the team’s inability to stick with the gameplan or handle teams when they put a run on them. The team is still learning how to get through a 48-minute game with the same energy, focus and exectuion.

Orlando is trying to remedy this by taking control early and punching first, as they put it.

That is what the team did in the first quarter in scoring 41 points in the opening 12 minutes with Jalen Suggs scoring 17 of his 21 in the opening quarter. The team moved the ball well and stayed on the attack, keeping the Nets uncomfortable with seamless switching and on-point rim protection and energy from center Mo Bamba, especially.

The Nets adjusted and they used their veteran know-how to get back into the game. Harden began attacking and drawing fouls while the Magic stayed on the perimeter too much. Orlando settled for jumpers and cut off the ball movement that helped build its early lead.

A flurry to end the second quarter what was once a 19-point lead down to single digits. And Brooklyn pulled ahead with a 37-point third quarter. The Magic were struggling to score consistently.

This team has not played with a lead — and certainly not one of that size — often this year. The team still clearly had to learn and understand how to manage the game. And eventually, they fell into their own weaknesses early this season.

"“We have to start coming out better in the second half of games and just play hard,” Chuma Okeke said after Friday’s game. “That’s all there really is. Just play hard and play together and we could have come out in a win. That’s something we have to learn from and build off of.”"

In a game that ended up being as close as this one, every little play and moment seemed to matter and carry significant weight. Missed free throws seem even more crushing. Every shot carries more weight.

The Magic have had to get into these situations more and more. They pulled through in wins over the Utah Jazz and New York Knicks. This team is capable of winning late. Everyone will have their missteps and the Magic certainly had one Friday night.

But it is in these moments of struggle that the team will learn. It is through these moments of struggle the team must improve and grow.

The Magic got rooked a bit. Whether it was the veteran know-how to manipulate the officials or the ability to calm themselves down 19 to come back and take control and finish the game late.

By the end of this game, Orlando again felt like it was the one chasing and grinding to stay in the game, trying to keep its head above water.

The Magic are continuing to prove they will fight and do all they can to stay in these games. They are still doing their best to learn how to control and compete in games for the full 48 minutes.

The positive sign is they are seemingly getting better at it.

But there are still missteps to come. Missteps and frustrations like Friday night. And the Magic have to learn how to handle them all over again and be better the next time.