The Orlando Magic were feeling the energy and the vibes throughout the first three quarters.
In one sequence in the second quarter, Franz Wagner knocked the ball away on a fast break. Cole Anthony dove on the floor to recover it near midcourt and then from the ground threw it ahead to Franz Wagner who found Jalen Suggs for a dunk.
This is everything Magic basketball under Jamahl Mosley is supposed to be.
The heady and smart defense to create a steal. The bell play to save the possession. The unselfishness not only to sacrifice your body but to move the ball ahead for the better shot.
Orlando is seeing more of these. And throughout the first half of the Orlando Magic’s game against the LA Clippers, they saw this aggression and attack. They moved the ball and found open players, sometimes even overpassing it but still coming up with better shots.
The 3-pointers were not falling, but they were in the paint and getting to the foul line. Their defense was frustrating the Clippers. The only thing keeping them in the game was their 3-point shooting.
The Magic built as much as a 14-point lead. But more importantly, they were the aggressors. They were the ones in control. It is a place the Magic have not been very often.
It was for that reason that it was so stunning and frustrating to see the game flip over some completely.
The LA Clippers flipped the script on the Orlando Magic in the fourth as the Magic’s aggression dialed back and they were unable to get themselves back.
The Clippers stormed back for a 111-102 win behind a 35-24 fourth quarter that featured 23-for-25 shooting from the foul line in the fourth quarter alone. LA went from shooting only two free throws in the first three quarters to living at the foul line.
The Clippers smelled blood and stayed aggressive throughout the quarter. The Magic had no answers and struggled to find their footing again.
There have been so few opportunities to win this year that games like this where it is clearly their own mistakes that cost them seem to hurt a whole lot more.
To be sure, the Magic understood this game was on them and the mistakes they made.
"“We messed up on our part by less than two minutes into the quarter putting them in the bonus,” Cole Anthony said after Wednesday’s loss. “That changes our whole game plan. At that point, we can’t be as aggressive defensively as we want to. Any time we foul them, any time we bail them out, anything, we give them the opportunity to get two free points. We’ve got to be better. As the second half came on, they got more aggressive and I think they just outworked us.”"
Indeed, the early foul trouble in the fourth quarter completely changed the script for the game.
The Clippers got four shooting fouls on their first three possessions of the quarter. They were in the bonus by the 8:39 mark of the fourth quarter. That completely changed everything about the game. The Clippers were only getting started with their attacks to the basket.
That enabled LA to play with a whole lot more aggression than Orlando. And it showed in other parts of the game.
The Clippers finished the fourth quarter with not just those 25 free throws (they made 23), but also five offensive rebounds and nine second-chance points in the quarter alone. Orlando was truly outworked in the period.
They were unable to turn back momentum.
The Magic eventually got to 24 points but made just 9 of 23 shots. The team had gone through some lulls through the course of the game that allowed the Clippers to shoot their way back in. But this was the worst time with even several open shots going no good.
Any one of them could have taken back momentum. The Magic just were not able to reclaim the aggression they had earlier.
"“I think the way we get a rhythm in most of our games is when we get stops and get out and run,” Franz Wagner said after Wednesday’s loss. “We’re really hard to stop in transition. You can’t do that when you foul every time. I think it’s kind of caused by fouling so much that we didn’t have a great rhythm in that last quarter too.”"
It is a maxim in the league that playing from ahead is always better. It is also a maxim in the league that the more aggressive team is the one that will get the benefit of the whistle.
Orlando were the aggressors early and had 19 of the team’s 22 free throw attempts in the first three quarters. The Magic also had a 33-32 rebounding advantage (including 6-3 on the offensive glass) through the first three quarters.
That all changed in the fourth quarter. Orlando lost its aggression. It is vital to their success.
Orlando wants to play physically. That is part of the way the team wants to play defensively.
But there is clearly a line that the team has to avoid. And the Magic crossed that line in struggling to defend without fouling. They gave themselves no margin for error.
"“I think it’s a big-time growth for the understanding if it’s not the third quarter, understanding it’s the fourth quarter,” Mosley said after Wednesday’s loss. “That we have to sustain our effort and play the way that got us the lead. The more we can learn that, the more we’ll grow and the better we’ll become.”"
The same was true throughout the game. Orlando got in the bonus early in the first quarter and got to the line plenty but also hung back and lost some of the team’s aggression to expand the lead. The Clippers closed the quarter well to stay in the game.
The Magic were able to create good looks by getting to the rim. They outscored the Clippers 56-26 in the paint. The Magic made 28 of 42 shots in the paint for the game. Orlando, though, only had eight points in the paint in the fourth quarter (4-for-9 shooting).
Indeed, the problem very much for the Magic has been consistency and being able to do what works throughout the entire game. That has kept them from winning as much as anything.
Defenses throughout the year have done a good job in that respect getting Orlando consistently out of their game. This as much as anything is how the Magic have lost. They have often been staggered and unable to execute their offense.
Orlando has been at its best when it is able to get out on the open floor, defend with aggression and play with energy. Figuring out how to keep that momentum and even take it back has proven extremely difficult.
If anything, Orlando often finds itself trying too hard to get itself out of the hole.
"“It’s not easy to do once a team has taken momentum that late in the game to flip the script and get that back,” Anthony said after Wednesday’s loss. “It’s something as professionals and as people who love this game, it’s something we have to figure out. It’s something we could have done easier. If we all collectively work hard and not just work harder, but work smarter. I think if we don’t put them in that foul trouble, we could have been the aggressors.”"
This Magic team still has a lot to learn. No team has led by more than 10 points for fewer minutes than this Magic team. Orlando has also won only one game in those rare instances when the team leads by 10 points or more.
The team still has to learn how to manage and stay aggressive with leads.
Wednesday then proved another difficult lesson for this young team. One of the harder lessons they have taken all year. The Magic are still finding their way.