Paolo Banchero has always had an issue with free-throw shooting. It was one of the many things he worked on during the All-Star break to try to improve and break out of the funk he was in after returning from his injury.
But with the Magic up by nine midway through the third quarter, Banchero missed a pair of free throws and powered his way to the rebound. With the Dallas Mavericks scrambling, he rose and put up a thunderous two-handed jam to push the Magic ahead by 11.
Orlando withstood an early run that erased the team's seven-point halftime lead. This was a play that showed the Magic could impose their will on the game. This was their game to take.
This is what the best version of this team could do. They had the willingness to be grimy and dirty defensively, using that to power their offense. They had the star who could pace them and force his will onto the game.
These are the reasons everyone was optimistic about this team and what they are capable of. This is the team that could have challenged for the 4-seed and could still find its way to a home game in the Play-In Tournament this season.
But there is a reason the Magic are in the fight for the Play-In. There is a reason they are now four games under .500. There is a reason where even their spot in the top eight seems at risk.
Orlando has looked much improved in the last month as the team has started to find its shot again and some offensive rhythm. But the team that faltered through January and February still exists. It has won the battle most of the season.
As the Magic went ice cold after that momentum-building play by Banchero, the worst version of themselves appeared again. The team missed their final 11 shots of the third quarter to give up a 20-2 run and fall behind by seven entering the fourth quarter and leading to a 101-92 loss.
Orlando is still seeking the best version of itself this late in the year.
"Our intensity and our focus was good for 36 minutes, but we've got to play a 48-minute game," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Thursday's loss. "We've got to be better there. I think that's the reasoning behind it."
That has been a common refrain throughout the season. The Magic have struggled to put together the high level of play they are accustomed to and know they must play at to win. They have struggled it seems to find that last quarter -- usually the third -- to get over the hump.
The team goes through these deep lulls like they did against the Mavericks in the final five minutes of the third quarter. And they struggle to recover from them.
That is what usually puts the team too far behind to catch up.
"I think overall our toughness kind of subsided a little bit once they started hitting shots," Jonathan Isaac said after Thursday's loss. "That's been a flaw of ours. To battle so well in the first half, we went on a run and they sustained themselves. They went on a run and we didn't. That's hte game of basketball. It's tough. We've got to be better. That wasn't the level that we've been at the last three games to win three in a row."
Which is the aberration?
What is most frustrating is that while nothing the Orlando Magic did in their defeat feels entirely new based on what they have done for most of the season, it is unusual for how the team has played during this winning stretch.
The Magic fell back into habits and traps that have cost them games throughout the season.
Coach Jamahl Mosley pointed to the turnovers most of all for why the team lost.
They had 17 turnovers for 22 Mavericks points. Add on the 5-for-30 shooting from three (16.7 percent) and that is a recipe to let the Mavericks' speedy guards get down the floor and score in transition—16 points on 6-for-8 shooting.
That is not how the team has played most of this month.
Orlando for the season is 19th in the league with a 14.7 percent turnover rate. But in March, the team has done better at protecting the ball. The Magic have a 12.9 percent turnover rate in March (ninth in the league).
As a higher turnover team, the Magic gave up 17.4 points off turnovers per game. It is the one weakness in their defense. But they have given up only 15.5 per game in March (seventh in the league this month).
That has helped give Orlando's offense more cracks at scoring and shooting. It has improved the team overall.
"I think that playing slow is going to create more chances to turn the ball over for us," Paolo Banchero said after Thursday's loss. "That's why I believe the faster we play, the better because it limits everybody's decision time and gives guys quicker reads out there on the floor. With us playing slow came us turning the ball over, came us not shooting well from three and not having a great offensive night. We have to make a concerted effort to push the pace on offense."
Because the Magic were slow into their offense and turning the ball over, it allowed the Mavericks to control the pace of the game. The Magic never found the rhythm that has made them more dangerous of late.
The team's shooting was, of course, part of the issue too.
The Magic have not had any answers from three all year, shooting a league-worst 31.1 percent from three. Those struggles are well chronicled.
But in March, the Magic have shown life, making 34.0 percent from three—still bottom three in the league but not the worst by a wide margin.
In March they have had as many as five players at one time shooting better than 40 percent from three—both Anthony Black and Paolo Banchero have dipped below that line in the last two games. This was a game where Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (42.2 percent in March but 0 for 3 in Thursday's game), Caleb Houstan (50.0 percent in March but 0 for 1 on Thursday) and Paolo Banchero (38.3 percent in March but 1 for 5 on Thursday) all struggled to reach these new benchmarks.
The poor shooting is still deflating to this team.
"You gave them easy baskets," Jamahl Mosley said after Thursday's loss. "When you don't knock threes down when you are getting open looks, it deflates you. And those are also easy runouts for transition baskets. So you can't set your defense as the ball goes through the hoop."
Who are the Magic?
That begs the ultimate question, then: Who are the real Orlando Magic? Or which version of this team will they be?
Orlando has been the version that was on display for much of the second half against Dallas on Thursday throughout this season. That version is why the team finds itself in a hole.
Recently, the Magic have shown they can be something more. They have shown that the better version of themselves is still in there.
Orlando has had this choice all year: Which version of this team does it want to be? That is still wholly within its power. And there are still eight games remaining to make a mark.
If the Magic want to achieve their goals, they will need to face down the demons that cost them Thursday's game. The better version of this team is still in there.