Orlando Magic lose but win as late season goals are in focus

The Orlando Magic were scratching and clawing as they always do. They may have been sloppy in getting there and may have put themselves in that bad spot down double-digits deep into the second half, but the scrap was still there.

Franz Wagner was soaring to the basket. The ball was hopping around the perimeter and finding some open shooters. Cole Anthony was getting in the paint and kicking out. Mo Bamba was hunting players in the paint and dominating the glass to give the Magic their chance to get out and run.

Both the first and second half followed the same pattern as the Magic found their groove. It looked like they were on their way to another solid win.

Orlando’s starters dominated the early part of the game and won their minutes handily. They built a double-digit lead early.

Then the Magic’s second unit came in. A group that featured both two-way players, a 10-day signee making his debut with the team, Moe Wagner and usually R.J. Hampton. That is not exactly a group that is going to be super organized.

These players need to learn how to play in these situations. But that is not really what this was about in a 118-102 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center on Wednesday.

This was about something much long-term. Something that has nothing to do with the nine players Jamahl Mosley called upon in this game.

The Orlando Magic are not quite playing out the string. But everyone seems to know what the rest of this season is about as long-term goals come into some focus.

Everyone knows what was really at stake in this game. This was a Lottery battle. One where the real winner is not the team that wins, but the team that loses and solidifies their chances at gaining a top pick.

Both the Magic and the Thunder need it.

On this night, Orlando dominated with its starters but seemed less inclined to play them. Oklahoma City wanted to snape a 10-game losing streak and after surviving that initial blow sure played like it.

The Thunder went on a 24-2 run in the second quarter to flip a 12-point deficit into a 12-point lead. After the Magic were able to tie the game in the third quarter, they went on a 12-2 run to end the quarter with the Magic’s second unit in.

"“I think a bit of it is the rhythm of the game,” Mosley said after Wednesday’s game. “Some of those guys didn’t play a lot of minutes last night. I was trying to find a rhythm for these guys and let those starters get a little bit of rest and get to the point of fatigue after playing a lot of minutes last night.”"

Only two starters played more than 30 minutes in this game. The debuting Jeff Dowtin tallied 30 minutes off the bench, scoring just four points. Orlando played only nine players and so three of the four players off the bench were either Dowtin playing his first game with the team or two-way players Admiral Schofield and Ignas Brazdeikis.

These players are all on the team for a reason so no one will make excuses for losing. Mosley said the team looked a bit sluggish and slow coming on the back to back, giving up 30 free throw attempts in the game.

But that is hardly the lineup the Magic would use and expect to win or compete consistently.

Orlando never really went back to the starters — Franz Wagner and Mo Bamba did not play in the fourth quarter — even as the team cut the lead back to single digits late in the fourth quarter. The team was really not too interested it seemed in pushing its starters too far.

And that is what everyone would point to after the game.

This game had meaning beyond the final score. Every fan knows it.

Even the Magic’s broadcast plastered the race at the bottom of the standings for the top Lottery odds throughout the evening. Everyone understood what was possibly at stake.

The Orlando Magic and Oklahoma City Thunder entered the game tied in wins at 20 after the Magic beat the Golden State Warriors last night. The Detroit Pistons are second-worst in the league with 19 wins (now also 20 after a win Wednesday against the Atlanta Hawks. The Houston Rockets sit at the bottom of the league with 18 wins this season.

Magic fans have been well aware of what a win like this could do to the team’s odds on Lottery day. Everyone is just hoping for some luck this time around and the best chance of landing one of those top players (even in this Draft class).

They have pointed to meaningless wins like last year’s win over the Pistons in Detroit for their last win of the season. Orlando finished the year at 21-51, one game ahead of Detroit for the second-worst record in the league. The Pistons would win the top pick of the 2021 Draft.

Or when the Magic won on the last day of the 2018 season over the Washington Wizards, falling out of what would have been a three-way tie with the Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks would end up winning big and getting the third pick in the draft, ultimately trading Luka Doncic for Trae Young. The Magic would draft Mo Bamba.

In the Magic’s defense, they tried very hard to lose that game by putting out a lineup devoid of starters and, like Wednesday night, not playing the starters heavy minutes or returning to them late.

These moments are seared in fans’ memories because of the near misses the Magic had to getting the star player the franchise has missed since Dwight Howard left in 2022. Every Lottery it seems brings the wishful thinking of the franchise striking it big again.

This is why for fans, Wednesday’s game was not a loss. It was not even close to a loss. It was a necessary defeat to maximize the team’s chances for a hope and a dream at the end of the year.

The Magic lost the game but still seemed to win.

Orlando can take solace that when their starting group was in, they dominated the game. In that way, this was a clear win. The Magic were not worse because of the players that matter for this team’s future.

Every starter for Orlando had a positive plus/minus for the game except R.J. Hampton, who spent his second quarter as the team’s point guard during that 24-2 run. Franz Wagner was +20 in a game the Magic lost by 16. Bamba was +15.

Anthony recorded a double-double with 17 points and 11 assists on 5-for-9 shooting. Bamba also had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Wagner scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half.

It is hard to feel like these players played poorly.

Orlando opened the game with incredible ball movement, recording seven assists on 14 field goals. The Magic built as much as a 13-point lead as they seemed set to cruise to victory. They got whatever they wanted offensively and were stifling defensively.

"“They got stops and got out to run,” Mosley said after Wednesday’s loss. “The ball movement was just absolutely beautiful with that first unit. They shared it and moved it. The second unit came in and the shots weren’t falling. The ball was trying to move the same but the shots weren’t falling.”"

Mosley said he still wanted to emphasize the defense, even with shots not falling.

Still, that was encouraging. The group that lost the lead was not one of long-term importance for the team. And that was the group the Magic leaned on the most late in the game when the result was still in the balance.

The Magic played hard while they were in the game. Nobody on the court was trying to lose. But the team was still not in the best position to win. Orlando was resting its starters and trying to keep them fresh for the final run of the season.

There are still eight games before the season ends. The Magic are not likely to play a game like this every night. There are still things they want to accomplish.

So . . . the Magic won? Right? Is that how this goes?

Maybe the team will not know for sure whether this was all worth it until the ping pong balls come up in June.