Orlando Magic not feeling at home in close games

The Orlando Magic fight. That much is established.

How they get into some of the holes they put themselves in can be irrelevant when the game gets tight at the end. The team still gives itself the chance to win.

Cutting an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit all the way down to five, the Magic were again in a position to win. Cole Anthony found Wendell Carter and forced Joel Embiid to commit a hard foul where he grabbed Carter around the neck and face. Officials reviewed and gave the flagrant foul.

Orlando down five with a little more than two minutes to play had a chance to completely erase the deficit and make this a game.

Carter stepped to the foul line and missed the first free throw. The crowd, behind the basket near the Sixers’ bench was filled with plenty of Philadelphia fans and they started to make noise, with the bench egging them on to get louder.

Carter missed again as the noise got louder.

And while Cole Anthony was able to hit a shot to make it a three-point deficit again, the tide had already turned. The Magic have been feeling more and more uncomfortable in late-game situations as they flounder some to close out games.

The Orlando Magic again played a tight game but struggled late and throughout the fourth quarter, failing to close the game again and suffering another defeat.

The Sixers finished on a 9-2 kick to put the game firmly out of reach on their way to a 116-106 victory at the Amway Center on Wednesday. After Seth Curry put the finishing touches on an and-1 layup that fouled Wendell Carter out of the game, the Sixers fans in attendance felt it.

Joel Embiid orchestrated them through cheers. This was a frustrating way to end what was largely a solid game.

But, yes, another solid game that ended in a loss.

"“It’s tough because you look at the box score and it didn’t go in our favor,” Mo Bamba said after Wednesday’s loss. “We know we’re working toward something bigger and looking at the bigger picture. It doesn’t necessarily take away from what we want to do night in and night out.“When we’re actually in the games, I felt like we’ve been there before in a lot of these games. I looked over at Wendell during the game today and told him we’re in a lot of close game sand right there with them. One or two mistakes compact and turn into a bad habit and we end up on the bad end of the box score.”"

It has likely never felt further away for the Magic to climb all the way back out. And it would be fair if this team felt some frustration for not seeing the progress to their level of play.

The opposing fans were merely an insult to injury. And this was not the first time opposing fans invaded the Amway Center. This is the unfortunate life of a rebuilding team — and one with the worst record in the league at that.

These losses have not crushed the team’s overall vibes or raised any level of frustration quite yet. Everyone seems to understand there is a bigger goal in the great beyond that they are working toward. That perspective has been important through the course of this frustrating losing season.

This game likely came down to the turnovers. Orlando had 19 of them leading to 28 points, including five for 10 points in the final quarter, which Philadelphia won 28-17 to make the final margin.

The Sixers forced four of those turnovers during a 10-0 run that gave them an 11-point lead in the middle of the quarter, forcing the Magic to chase the game and providing another critical lesson.

"“It is a game of runs,” coach Jamahl Mosley said after Wednesday’s loss. “We fueled their runs by turning the basketball over. You can’t have 19 turnovers for 28 points. You have to give yourself a chance in that regard. The fact we are still in the game says a lot about our competitive spirit to continue to go. We’ve got to reward ourselves by taking the right shot and making sure we get a shot up down there on the possession game.”"

That is indeed part of the problem for the Magic. They often beat themselves in these late-game situations.

In the loss to the New Orleans Pelicans a few weeks ago, it was Cole Anthony hitting tough and hurried shots to try to will the team to a victory as he has done before.

In the loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday, it was turnovers that did the team in as well as missed free throws, leaving the door open for the Celtics to squeeze through and erase a 14-point deficit in the final 14.5 minutes.

Monday against the Chicago Bulls, the culprit was just missing shots and running out of steam on the last end of a back-to-back.

Orlando has indeed been knocking on the door for a win. But the young team has been unable to knock it down and pull through.

"“Obviously they are super frustrating,” Anthony said after Wednesday’s loss. “You are not going to get better without putting yourself in situations like this. Failure is an opportunity to learn from that and get better. The more we get into that situation the more comfortable everyone is going to get as a unit. That’s when we can start closing out games like this. That’s when we have the chance to take the next step.”"

Orlando has had its share of clutch moments. The Orlando Magic came up with big shots in wins over the Utah Jazz, New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets this season.

The Magic are now 5-11 in games played within five points in the final five minutes. Those 16 clutch games are 20th in the league, showing how few clutch games the Magic have played this season. But six of them have come in the last 15 games.

Overall, Orlando has a +4.5 net rating in these clutch situations, scoring 107.0 points per 100 possessions and giving up 102.5 points per 100 possessions. While certainly some of this has come because of frantic comebacks late in games, it does suggest that the Magic are simply going through a blip of poor play late in games right now.

The Magic have proven themselves to be solid closers before. The trick has always been getting there.

And close games are still in large part a coin flip. There are going to be down moments like this.

"“Our ability to know that we are in these games and understand they have their guys out there the full entire time knowing that we are going to keep competing until the horn goes off,” Mosley said after Wednesday’s game. “Our guys competed. They worked their way through the entire game — up, down and the game of runs. They continued to battle through.”"

That is all well and good. But the proof is in the pudding. And while it is still very understandable for the Magic to make some mistakes and take close losses and close games as learning experiences, they still actually have to go out and win the games.

That is the part that is getting away from them for now. They are making tons of young team mistakes in the fourth quarter and preventing themselves from winning. That is something that should turn around with more experience.

For now, it is leading to understandable frustration and discomfort. It is forcing them to take their licks. Even sometimes from the home crowd.