The Orlando Magic have said throughout the last two months when they were down their two best players in Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner that "We are enough."
They believed that and lived that, outworking and outplaying unsuspecting teams who thought the Magic did not have enough push or force to compete without their star players. They were legitimately scary on defense, with players playing at heightened attention and seemingly above their heads.
This was a team you could not count out. This was Orlando Magic basketball—hounding on defense and willing to do anything it took to win regardless of their shortcomings or absences.
But now the Magic have seemingly lost that spark. The defense has slipped into something unrecognizable. Their offensive shortcomings have only become more pronounced.
Against one of the best teams in the league in the Boston Celtics, it is impossible to play anything short of good basketball. The margin of error was too thin. And now the Magic are getting cut by that razor-sharp blade.
The Magic were well short of their standard in a 121-94 loss. Like their loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, the Orlando Magic did not play anything recognizable as Magic basketball.
It leaves the conclusion that for as much as the Magic have rallied and worked together, right now they do not have enough to compete. Certainly not against the elite teams.
They need health first and foremost. But they may need something else to make up for these shortcomings. The Magic are simply struggling to find answers.
To get where the Magic want to go, they will need more from everyone. And maybe there just is not much more to ask of this injury-depleted team. They have to maintain the confidence that this is just a blip.
"Whether you lose by 20 or lose by two, it still goes into the same column," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Friday's loss. "I think you have to take from each one of them what you can. What did you give up? What did you take away? What are you willing to live with? They made 17 threes and had 38 points in the paint. We were down 12 at halftime and those were all self-inflicted wounds. If we can find ways to tighten up on the gameplan and you're not giving away easy baskets."
But this is more than just a blip. This is becoming a pattern of low-energy games or games where the offensive struggles cut into the defense.
It is not a time for panic, but alarm bells are ringing.
The defensive slip
Everything for the Orlando Magic starts with defense. Defending this Boston Celtics team is not easy with their ability to get threes up in volume. And the Magic were again effective at least in limiting their attempts—just 37.
But Boston made 17 of them. Orlando simply does not have the firepower to keep up with a team making 17 3-pointers, especially with how undermanned the team is right now.
The Magic's 3-point abyss deepened, going 5 for 32 (15.6 percent). It left Jamahl Mosley quiet for seven seconds as he answered what the Magic can do about their shooting.
But this is about the team's central identity—their defense.
It was not only that the Celtics made all of those threes. They made 52.5 percent of their shots overall, marking the first time all season opponents shot 50 percent or better against them in consecutive games. Opponents have shot better than 50 percent against the Magic in three of the past four games.
Orlando struggled to defend the paint as they hugged the 3-point shooters, giving up 38 points in the paint and 22 free throws. The Celtics' 14 third-quarter free throw attempts helped them keep the Magic at arm's length and expand their lead, killing any chance for the Magic to make a run.
Jayson Tatum scored 15 of his 30 points in the second quarter, isolating smaller Magic defenders and outleveraging them in the paint, further stunting any chance for the team to comeback.
Orlando struggled to create that necessary lifeline in turnovers, forcing only 10 in the game. That just signals how undisruptive the team was. Without turnovers, the offense was destined to flounder against a set defense.
You could see the Celtics peeling back the Magic's belief. It is just one loss, but it feels much more than that.
In the end, the 134.4 defensive rating in this game was the Magic's worst for the season. There is no competing when the team is not defending. And certainly not defending like this.
This is as bad as the Magic have looked all season.
"This team puts up 121? That's not us," Cole Anthony said after Friday's loss. "We're too good of a defensive team to allow any team in the league for whatever it is to put up that many points. We've proven that before. We've got to get back to that. And, obvioulsy, it's going to be hard to win a game when we're shooting 15 percent from the 3-point line, missing 10 free throws."
Since Jalen Suggs' injury two weeks ago in Toronto, the Magic's defense has noticeably slipped. Orlando has given up 113.4 points per 100 possessions in those games. Goga Bitadze's absence in the last two games was even more noticeable as the Magic lacked their best rim protector this season.
Filled with doubt?
Everything feels stretched thin and everyone seems filled with doubt.
Part of what made the Orlando Magic so successful during these injuries was that confidence and bravado. Orlando truly believed.
It is hard to see that now with the team passing up open shots and making slow and uncertain decisions.
Mosley has said the Magic typically do a good job not letting their offense affect their defense. But it is hard not to see the team's spirits drop with each missed three. Especially when their opponent is making so many.
Everyone wondered when this Magic team's spirits would snap. We may have found that breaking point.
It may have been inevitable with the roster they have available and the injuries that only seem to be mounting—Banchero took a finger to the face on a drive and needed eye drops before checking back in.
The fact is it is hard to play Orlando Magic basketball losing so much of this team's essential identity and essential players. It is a wonder it took this long to face adversity like this.
But the schedule marches on. The Magic have to find a way until their injury woes subside.
"It's one loss. It's two in a row," Jamahl Mosley said after Friday's loss. "Just keeping our heads in the right space, understanding where we can improve, what we have to work on and the little things and details of these games. Look back at the film and be ready to go against Denver."
Perhaps there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Franz Wagner spent another day in his return to competition reconditioning and his return seemingly could come this week. Jalen Suggs was back on the floor doing ball-handling drills before Friday's game and told reporters he is "feeling better" and feeling "rejuvenated with the time off.
That will make the Magic feel whole again and give them a chance to find their identity again. They know it is in there. They just have to bring it out.
Until that day comes, they have to find enough with what they have. They have been good at doing that all year. These last two games, it just was not enough.