Orlando Magic Postgame Thoughts: Cole Anthony rallies Orlando Magic again in another short effort

Never question Cole Anthony’s willingness to do what it takes to win.

The guy went nearly horizontal on what was called a charge on a layup as he was trying to get his team a win. With the Magic giving away a late third-quarter lead and falling behind by as much as 13 points in the fourth quarter, they were going to turn to their budding young star to get them back into it.

Anthony delivered. From the point Orlando trailed by 13 points to the end of the game, Anthony scored eight points and assisted on a 3-pointer to help the Magic cap the game with a 15-4 run.

That included another nasty step-back jumper to tie the game with 47 seconds left. Orlando had to tie the game again on the next possession with Franz Wagner wrapping around a pass to Mo Bamba for a dunk with 16.7 seconds left.

Orlando has made it a habit to have strong fourth quarters — no matter the deficit. And Anthony is usually at the center of any late-game heroics the team might have. It is getting harder and harder to deny Anthony is doing something very real. They just need to give him the chance to deliver.

No one will fault him for missing the game-winning shot at the end. Orlando set up an inbounds that got Anthony the ball off a great pass from Wagner.

Cole Anthony continued his tear, rallying the Orlando Magic to a tie and back into the game. But self-inflicted wounds proved costly in a loss to the Houston Rockets.

But being in that position, to begin with, will be the ultimate question. The Rockets took a 118-116 win over the Magic at Toyota Center on Friday on an Eric Gordon floater as he nudged his way past his defender into the paint and buried the Magic’s hopes of consecutive wins for the first time this season.

That seemed to be symbolic of all the self-inflicted wounds the Magic committed from turnovers to poor defensive energy. Orlando has had its bouts this year with all of those things at various times this season. And they have all cost the team dearly.

In this game, it prevented them from winning a game that felt imminently winnable. Another game where the Magic cost themselves in the end.

Cole Anthony keeps scorching

It is getting harder and harder to deny just how good and important Cole Anthony is for this team. If the Magic are winning games this year, it is usually because Anthony did something pretty incredible.

This game was no different.

Anthony scored 12 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter. That was key to the Magic coming back and giving themselves a chance to win. It is exactly what the team has come to expect of him this year. Anthony is the big driver for this team and just makes this team better.

As does Franz Wagner.

The Magic rookie scored 17 points to go with five rebounds and five assists. It was some major support for the team throughout. And the guy is not afraid late in games, showing he is far more confident than most rookies would be.

Self-inflicted wounds

The big story though remains the self-inflicted wounds for the Orlando Magic.

There is a general lack of execution and, at times, energy. NBATV analyst and father of the star point guard Greg Anthony probably summarized it best:

That was something that seemed noticeable too.

Orlando has had some slow starts to games before the team is able to ratchet things up. And there are shortcomings on the roster the team is not able to overcome most nights.

But the Magic should never be outworked. That goes without saying. Hustle and energy is the only way for a team like the Magic to make up for any talent gaps the team might have.

Imprecise play can be excused for experience or as a learning lesson, sloppy play and lackadaisical play should never be excused for this team. Simply put, it cost the team the game.

The Magic committed 18 turnovers that led to 21 Rockets points. Those mistakes cost the Magic opportunities to score and build their lead, coming at inopportune times.

The only knock on Cole Anthony’s game was his five turnovers. The team has to be smarter and better at protecting the ball in those situations. They do not have many opportunities to squander with their margin of error.

Orlando also struggled at the 3-point line, a sign of the team’s poor defensive intensity at times. The Rockets made 17 of 47 3-pointers (36.2-percent) including four from Eric Gordon.

The Magic have to be tighter with their defense. Especially if they want this to be their calling card.

Predictable failings

The Orlando Magic games have a similar rhythm and cadence to them.

The starters usually do a good job keeping the team in shouting distance to start the game. Then as the team breaks the lineup, they start to falter. Then the full bench lineups late in the first and early in the second struggle to keep the game close. The Magic’s starting group keeps the team in the game (or does not) and then the team makes a run again when the starters return.

Then the bench comes in and thinks get bad again before Orlando’s starters again make a mad dash to the finish.

Does that sound about right?

Once again, all of Orlando’s starters save for Franz Wagner had a positive plus/minus while all of their bench players had a negative plus/minus. The team is still struggling to find balance in their rotations. And that costs them a ton.

These are complaints from fans in their fantasy booking of the rotation throughout the season. It is starting to become odd not to have one of Mo Bamba or Wendell Carter on the floor. And it is even odder to have random Mychal Mulder or Ignas Brazdeikis minutes to start the fourth quarter.

But more than that, the Magic are still struggling to get anything from their bench. Wednesday’s win was one of the few times the bench lineups won their minutes and helped them win.

The Magic need to break some of this predictability because their record is not good.

Orlando is now 5-19. The Orlando Magic head to San Francisco next for a Monday date with the Golden State Warriors.