The results are not telling us how good the Orlando Magic are

The Orlando Magic could have easily packed it in. They could have easily succumbed to the frustration of a losing season. They could have given into the fatigue of a difficult back-to-back.

They had every excuse to get blown out against one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference while they were playing their best. They could have admitted the injuries had finally taken their toll and given into it all.

They could have been down about the loss they suffered Sunday night, still stewing over the lost opportunity of a win and beginning to question everything they had been working on and building through the course of the season.

It is not like they have seen the results so far. The results still seem so far away for this team as they nestled down near the bottom of the standings.

Those results are indeed far away. But they sure do not feel that far away. Not with the near-miss performances the Magic are giving lately.

And with all those things seemingly working against the Magic, they did not fold. Nor did they feel bad about themselves after that loss. They kept fighting. And kept fighting.

The Orlando Magic continue to have every reason to give into their worst instincts. Instead, with the results still far off, they keep fighting and growing. Those results will come.

The Chicago Bulls were able to outlast the Orlando Magic 102-98 at United Center on Monday night. DeMar DeRozan and Zach Lavine made big shots to help their lead stand up. Orlando missed some shots down the stretch as they chased the lead.

But it was hardly easy for the Bulls. And the Magic gave themselves every chance to win, going toe to toe and often taking it to the Bulls throughout the game.

"“I was really happy with the way we battled until the end of the game,” Jamahl Mosley said after Monday’s game. “I think our guys did a great job understanding necessarily our coverages, offensively trying to move the ball, understanding how to exploit some of their defense. I think they did a really good job there. Their ability to compete for the entire 48 was what I was most impressed with.”"

Orlando had the early lead — as much as 11 off of a great alley-oop from Franz Wagner to Wendell Carter — and only gave it away because of the team’s lack of depth. A second-quarter drop-off offensively — where the team made only 8 of 20 shots and were outscored 30-19 — was the only moment the Magic were really outpaced.

The Bulls’ killer bench unit led by DeRozan was just something the Magic could not stand up to. Outside of that, it is hard to say the Magic could not have won this game.

That is a common refrain throughout the season. Orlando has a four- or five-minute stretch of poor play or just a lineup the team cannot avoid in its rotation that simply does not work and clearly will not work that prevents the team from winning.

It was these moments that cost the team real chances to win against the Milwaukee Bucks, where the Orlando Magic cut 20-point deficits down to single digits tying it and taking the lead in the second half in their second meeting last week. It is how the team built a double-digit lead only to see it slip away Sunday night in Boston.

"“It was a great challenge for us,” Carter said after Monday’s game. “We played two of the most offensively gifted teams in the league these past two games. We were challenged on the defensive end. I feel like we did a really good job. The Boston game, we really wanted to walk away with a win there. We made a lot of late-game decisions that were not the best. It’s a growing process. I understand that it doesn’t all happen overnight.”"

The Magic have so many moments of clear play and exciting moments from Franz Wagner, Wendell Carter, R.J. Hampton and many more. Cole Anthony has displayed that exciting development too before his injury.

Orlando has helped establish a culture where the team fights to the end. The team has taken to pointing out the small victories it sees throughout the season. The team is not focused on wins as a measure of success.

But that is still ultimately where the Magic need to put their focus. And right now, they just do not have the players to get them across the finish line.

If there is some solace in these losses, it is that Orlando is relying on so many players who are not really a part of this team’s future. Right now, the Magic are playing their 10-day players used as replacements for players in COVID protocols. They still have a “usual five” players out with long-term injury. The Magic have missed more games to injury than any other team in the league by a wide margin.

Essentially every good thing the Magic consistently do is easily erased by the team’s lack of depth and inability to put together functioning rotations.

The results simply are not going to come until they get healthy again.

Not until Cole Anthony is back looking and hunting for points with his pull-up jumper and his bravado on the court. Not until Markelle Fultz returns with his ability to control the team’s tempo and run the point. Not until Jonathan Isaac is back with his ability to change the game defensively.

The Magic have shown plenty of good and they have continued to improve. That is a key part of the team’s goals this season.

Wagner continues to grow and expand his game. He continues to drop incredible assists and passes and increase his aggression with his scoring as he attacks the baskets and, at times, steps back for shots on the perimeter.

Carter continues to refine his defensive game and his versatility offensively, able to hit around the basket and on the perimeter while also defending the rim and paint.

There are flashes from Hampton as he continues to improve defensively and with his decision-making with the ball. And there is the consistency the team has gotten from veterans Gary Harris and Terrence Ross.

The Magic are playing better defense for long stretches — holding the Bulls to 102 points and 103.0 points per 100 possessions is no small feat. Even as Orlando struggles to score, the team is doing better sticking with things defensively.

They know this is key to their development too.

The Magic are buying into what the coaching staff wants them to do. That is perhaps the most important development from the first half of the season. It might be the most important thing that has happened.

Players see this growth. But the big goal is still on the horizon.

“We understand that the main objective is to get better every day,” Wagner said after Monday’s game. “That should be the main objective for most teams. That takes time. We’re a really young team. We want to be good in the long run. We understand that it takes time.”

For now, though, the team has to have faith that this process will lead to results. Those results may not come until they get healthy again. Or something resembling health.

Orlando is playing well enough to earn wins, confidence and hope. The results for this effort just have to wait.