The Orlando Magic crowd at Kia Center was eager to see the team get the Sean Sweeney era off to a great start. They were eager to see this new era of Magic basketball pick up the slack and make good on last year's frustrations.
The Magic had to make their comeback in the third quarter and give themselves the chance.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker silenced the crowd in the fourth quarter.
Getting the slightest breathing room on Franz Wagner, he drained a three to give the Hawks a four-point lead with about 90 seconds to play. After Paolo Banchero found Wendell Carter for an alley-oop to cut the lead to four, the Magic needed a stop.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jalen Johnson played a pick and roll. Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner failed to communicate the switch and Nickeil Alexander-Walker drained a clinching three to give the Hawks the win on opening.
Orlando would have to go to the drawing board with some encouraging signs, but a lot to clean up in a 132-125 loss to Atlanta.
The Orlando Magic would have to wait for some positive vibes for their next game Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Yes, the offense was torrid, shooting 48.2 percent from the floor and 13-for-40 from three (32.5 percent). The defense was wildly inconsistent, giving up 60 points in the paint and 36 free-throw attempts.
The Magic still gave themselves the chance to win. But they failed to make the shots down the stretch, missing several opportunities to take the lead late in the fourth quarter before Atlanta's shooting won the day.
There is still much to clean up, as you would expect fot he first game of the season.
It looked like a first game
There were a lot of mistakes. This looked like a preseason game or the first game of the season. And throwing on top of that this was the first game with a new coach, and the Orlando Magic had a lot of moments that looked shaky, uncertain and disorganized.
There was a lot of stuff that is correctible.
The team can get better at defending without fouling -- the appropriate violence that Sean Sweeney talks about all the time. The team can reduce turnovers as they learn how to properly space the floor and trust where each other will be.
Both were huge issues in this game. The Magic committed 28 fouls for 36 free-throw attempts (the Hawks made 30 of them). They had 20 turnovers for 24 Hawks points.
Orlando got a lot of that back. The Hawks committed 30 fouls for 39 free-throw attempts (the Magic made 30), giving up 15-for-20 shooting from the foul line in the Magic's 38-point third quarter. Atlanta had 17 turnovers for 18 points.
That is what the first game of the season can often look like. It will get better.
The stars aren't the problem
Whatever you think of the final result of the Orlando Magic's opening game, it is hard to blame their stars. Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner did about everything the team could have wanted to get the win.
Banchero made his first five shots and scored 22 of his 35 points in the first half. He finished 10-for-12 from the floor and 12-for-16 from the foul line. The Magic were -9 with him on the floor, but that was as much a product of the team's poor second quarter as anything else.
Even in the moments when the Magic struggled with him on the floor in the second quarter, he was not settling for shots and not forcing very much. He was trying to make the right play and find teammates. Everything was just really stagnant. His free-throw shooting kept things from getting worse.
Banchero must clean up his turnovers -- six in the game. He was forcing passes in the second half and made several key mistakes where weak side defenders were sitting on the passes he made.
But this was a solid start for Banchero.
It was also a good start for Wagner, who had 22 points on 9-for-20 shooting.
Foul trouble in the second quarter disrupted the Magic's rotations -- Banchero played 41 minutes to Wagner's 29.5. They sorely missed him. But he was crucial in the second half to get back into the game. He connects a lot of players on this team and gives the Magic a really special character.
Again, if this is how the Magic's two best players will play, they are due for good seasons.
Second-Quarter Trouble
The Orlando Magic had the lead early thanks to their new-look offense, and the offense was generally solid for the Magic. But the second quarter? The second quarter revealed a team that was still struggling to figure things out.
Remember this is going to be a process of learning Sean Sweeney's style and making that style a habit. The results can be ugly.
It is hard to imagine them being any uglier than the second quarter when Orlando gave up 44 points, 14-for-24 shooting, 12-for-14 shooting from the foul line and six turnovers for eight points. Even with the Magic scoring 29 points, the team not only lost its early lead but lost contact to trail by 10 at the half.
The Magic will get better. That will be pretty evident. But there may be some hiccups on the road to get there.
This will not be a straight line.
Credit to the Magic for bouncing back in the third quarter, answering the Hawks by getting to the foul line early and often and sticking with their process even as they figured themselves out. That is a bit of character that will matter moving forward.
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