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5 questions for the second quarter of the Orlando Magic’s 2023 season

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Franz Wagner was brilliant in leading the undermanned Orlando Magic to a gutsy home win over the Dallas Mavericks. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Franz Wagner was brilliant in leading the undermanned Orlando Magic to a gutsy home win over the Dallas Mavericks. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jalen Suggs, Jamahl Mosley, Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic again made critical errors down the stretch as the team struggles to close games. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports /

5 questions for the Orlando Magic’s second quarter

Can the Orlando Magic learn to win close games?

The early part of the Orlando Magic’s season was optimistic. The team was young and struggling for sure. Nobody was confusing the Magic with a dominant outfit.

But being in close games was a victory in itself. It was a sign of the progress the team could make and where the team still needed to grow.

Orlando ended the first quarter of the season with the fourth-most games that qualified for clutch situations — within five points in the final five minutes — with 14 clutch games. The Magic played only 33 clutch games last year. To be 42 percent of the way there a quarter through the season is a good thing.

Of course, the Magic have won only three of those games. That is the big reason why their record is what it is. And the struggles to win close games might be why the team is hitting a new low. Some confidence in late games early in the season might have powered the team through some of these injuries.

The Orlando Magic have had some bad showings late in games — the loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder stands out as an especially bad late-game showing as does the end of regulation in the loss to the Sacramento Kings despite the late-game heroics that tied the game late in overtime.

The Orlando Magic have the second-worst net rating in clutch situations, ahead of only the Los Angeles Lakers. They average only 95.3 points per 100 possessions in clutch situations. This is where the team adding a point guard would seemingly be most important. The Magic have not always looked organized or able to get good shots consistently.

The defense is not much better at 138.0 points allowed per 100 possessions.

These all seemed to be young player issues for the Magic. These are all things the team should improve in as they get more experience in late-game situations.

Right now, the Magic need to get back to playing close games and going through those growing pains to learn and improve. The team will need to take steps up in that category.

Orlando certainly hopes that this is an area where Markelle Fultz can help stabilize things.

The Magic need to get back to playing these close games again so they can see what the team looks like under pressure. They need to get comfortable playing under pressure so they can grow. That will be another key factor very soon.

To be sure, the Magic are sitting at five wins because they lost a lot of these close games. Even finishing .500 in close games would give them four more wins. That does not seem like a lot, but nine wins puts them 2.5 games out of the final play-in spot. Just flipping a few of those wins would make the postseason a little bit more of a reality.

Losing close games is very much still a problem for the team.