The Orlando Magic have needed some extra time to find themselves lately.
An embarrassing loss to the Toronto Raptors by 52 points that included an NBA-record 31-0 run where everyone questioned their effort, led to a spirited and solid win over the Phoenix Suns in their next outing. The Magic posted their best defensive effort since their seven-game win streak earlier in the month.
It seemed like things were trending in the right direction. Franz Wagner's return to the lineup promised to give the team a late surge back up the standings.
It looked like Orlando might be able to carry that momentum and find consistency again. They had a spirited and solid first quarter against the Atlanta Hawks.
Then a 16-0 run and a 47-point second quarter happened. The Magic came out uninspired in the second half and fell behind by more than 30 points. They were right back where they always have been this year, trying to figure out why their effort is inconsistent and unable to find a consistent identity.
It has been something the team has been trying to figure out for 76 games. With six games remaining, Orlando is not where it hoped to be in the standings but exactly where it deserves to be.
The Magic are still seeking answers and trying to figure out why they have been so inconsistent for so long.
"We're focusing on ourselves," Desmond Bane said after shootaround Friday in Dallas. "Watching ourselves back and how we've been playing, understanding that we can be better in a lot of areas. I'm excited for the challenge and the opportunity tonight."
Any chance of climbing the standings cannot happen if the Magic do not improve their play. Orlando does not control its own destiny anymore, but the team cannot even think about anything beyond winning a game and then winning the next one after that.
The Magic need to get to the bottom of their struggles and inconsistencies to accomplish anything and salvage what they can from this season.
A major downturn
The fact is plain: In the 10 games since the seven-game win streak ended, the Orlando Magic have lost eight. They have given away all their gains and fell from fifth and looking up at the standings to ninth, and trying to figure out how they had this feeling of whiplash.
In those 10 games, Orlando has looked wildly inconsistent if not downright bad. They have played like a 2-8 team and a tanking team.
The Magic have gone from season averages of 113.9 points per 100 possession (18th in the league) and 114.1 points allowed per 100 possessions (16th in the league) for the season to 111.2 points per 100 possessions (23rd in the league) and 122.4 points allowed per 100 possessions (24th in the league).
The defensive collapse has been confounding all season. Everyone acknowledges that should be the team's identity. It is what they have hung their hat on and want to be known for.
But it has escaped them all season.
The problem for this team has been that they are too inconsistent. Their good moments are short-lived, and their bad moments are really bad.
Orlando has not been able to put a good 48 minutes together in quite some time. Even the win over the Phoenix Suns saw major defensive breakdowns in the second and third quarters that turned a comfortable lead into a tie game heading to the fourth quarter.
"It's just about putting all 48 together," Wendell Carter said after shootaround Friday. "We have spurts where we are really good and spurts where we go scoreless and allow the other team to get whatever they want on the other end. Usually, how we start games has been pretty good and pretty consistent throughout the whole year. I think we need to do a better job sticking to what's working throughout the whole 48 and not getting down on ourselves when things aren't going our way."
That has been the feeling all season. The Magic just have not been able to put all the pieces together. Whether that is players being out with injuries or the team finding its identity.
Orlando is still searching for its identity. And this losing stretch has only highlighted those weaknesses and deficiencies with the group.
The playoff reality
The reality too is the Orlando Magic need to be perfect to climb the Playoff standings.
Wendell Carter said he is one to check the standings every day. The team knows exactly where it is in the race.
Just as the team probably knows that it needs to go 5-1 or 6-0 in the final six games to beat the teams ahead of them if they even just go .500 in their final five or six games.
If Orlando is going to pick itself up, there is no time like the present. There should be urgency to play better. Time is running out. And the Magic would surely prefer to be in the 7/8 game than the 9/10 game.
That will take some work and some help from losses by the other teams.
But all Orlando can control is what it does. The pressure should be on to win four or five of these final six games to give themselves a chance to climb the standings.
Orlando just needs to win. Everyone knows it.
"We're focused on one game at a time," Desmond Bane said after shootaround Friday. "Everybody has kind of talked about it, just playing basketball, you want to be feeling good about and confident heading into the postseason. I think that we're approaching this the right way. We'll continue to get better down the stretch."
Orlando is still trying to play its best basketball. It feels a long way away after the losses the team has suffered the last two weeks. The team has a lot to clean up to reach its potential.
The Magic know they have six chances to get closer and be better. And then they can see what happens.