Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley seemed almost tearful as he opened his postgame press conference following a 121-111 loss to the Denver Nuggets to close a weeklong road trip out West.
The Magic found themselves down 20 points very quickly, trailing by 15 after the first quarter alone. It would have been easy for them to pack it in. Anybody would have thought that might have been OK in the end.
Instead, Orlando fought its way back.
First with Franz Wagner and his playmaking. Then with Wendell Carter and his play around the basket. Then Chuma Okeke and his defense and shooting. Then, finally, Jalen Suggs and his hyperdrive pace and ability to put pressure on the rim.
The Nuggets never led by fewer than eight points (happening late in the fourth quarter). They continually extended the lead back out, even going up by 21 points early in the fourth quarter.
But the Magic kept fighting back. The Nuggets could not get out of their own way at times and the Magic kept pushing to get back, just unable to get the shot they needed to fall to get over the hump. And then time ran out.
The effort was indeed laudatory.
Before taking questions from the media, Jamahl Mosley opens up his postgame presser by speaking on the Magic's fight and not giving up no matter how much they're down by: pic.twitter.com/XuJfAqoC5C
— Khobi Price (@khobi_price) February 15, 2022
Orlando has indeed been proud of htis competitive spirit and the ability to fight until the very end of every game regardless of the score. It is something that is a good sign of the kind of culture and attitude the team is trying to build.
But this game has repeated a common story from throughout so many games this year.
The Orlando Magic again took pride in their effort to play to the final buzzer. But the team still struggles to put a 48-minute effort in that would no longer necessitate these futile comebacks.
It has almost become a joke among Magic fans. The team goes down big early and then scrambles back with largely starters out of the game to make the score look closer than it might have actually been.
Maybe this game was a bit different. The Nuggets turned the ball over — 23 times for 29 Magic points — keeping the Magic in the game and giving them hope. Orlando kept trying to burst its way through.
But this was always an uphill climb. It always seems like an uphill climb for this team.
The Magic managed only 14 points in the first quarter, shooting 5 for 21 from the floor and 2 for 13 from deep. They had only 40 points in the first half total.
The Magic’s offense did not get bogged down so much as the team committed sloppy turnovers and missed shots at all levels. There was no composure or poise to execute. This looked like a young and tired team.
And they were set to get run off the court.
Just because the Magic ultimately did not does not mean that it is something that is completely deserving of praise. This story, after all, has played out so many times before this season.
With the Magic getting closer to the All-Star Break — and the final quarter of the season — the Magic have to ask themselves where their improvement lies. Why are they still finding themselves down by such big deficits and why simply fighting back is considered a victory?
Orlando knows it is playing with a small margin for error.
The team had only 15 turnovers (12 in the first half, six in each of the opening two quarters) Monday. But each turnover felt like it stung more. The reality is the more mistakes the Magic make — self-inflicted or otherwise — the harder it is for them to overcome.
The Magic have made it clear they can live with losing this season. If they miss shots or they are unable to execute against a strong defense, they will take that as a learning lesson.
What they cannot and should not accept are lazy turnovers or plays where the team does not play with attention to detail. They cannot accept a lackadaisical effort — especially getting beat back in transition or putting their head down and compounding that mistake.
Orlando has long prided itself or pointed to its resiliency. The team should be able to — and needs to learn — how to brush off mistakes and focus on the next play. There have been these cracks lately where the team allowed mistakes to multiply and the hole to get too big.
Or at least it feels like the team should be beyond this since this has been the repeated story throughout the year. At some point a young team has to learn its lesson and begin to improve.
Perhaps the Magic and their coaching staff expected this shortcoming this season. They expected there would be these long stretches where the Magic struggle and they would have to face big deficits. They see these comebacks as a sign of the team’s commitment to the process in the big picture and a sign they are bought in.
This season is not about the tangible results. Everyone seems to recognize this.
And so fighting back and playing until the final buzzer even in a lost cause can be pointed to as emblematic of the hard-working culture they are trying to build as a foundation.
At some point, though, the team needs to start showing tangible results. The Magic need to start getting some reward for that effort. They need to play a 48-minute game.
Until then everything is just pieces.
In that sense, the Magic’s 41-point fourth quarter might have been the most positive comeback of them all. A piece of the puzzle that felt like everything the coaching staff has talked about.
Orlando pushed the pace to excess — 112.0 possessions per 48 minutes. Suggs seemed to take the ball and just jet toward the basket. He scored 10 points, took six free throws and dished out two assists. Wagner was along the baseline, there for any assist or kick out for three. He scored 12 of his 26 points in that fourth quarter.
More than the speed in which the team played offensively, Orlando got after Denver defensively. The Magic forced turnovers constantly, getting them in the backcourt and continued to turn them into baskets.
For the first time all year, the Magic seemed to have a clear sense of both the defensive pressure they needed to play with and the speed they needed to attack off that defense.
Of course, it was born in desperation with the clock working against them. The time did run out and the Magic still missed critical shots that would have really made the Nuggets sweat.
It was a momentary positive. The team needs to build themselves full games.
The question they constantly keep asking themselves is why they find themselves climbing out of the hole and climbing uphill so often.
This might be the most important realization and important problem the Magic have to solve. Solving this problem will eventually be how the team gets out of the rebuilding phase. It is ultimately how they will win.
Nearing the All-Star Break, the Magic are still seeking tangible results and consistency. That may not be all that matters this season. But Orlando has to break this cycle of the “hard-fought comeback” for a 10-point loss.
The Magic need to give themselves a real chance to win these games. And that will take the 48-minute effort that has still eluded this team.