Orlando Magic do what they need to be ready, build confidence for regular season

Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley probably set the tone for what this second preseason game and what this preseason means to this team before they took the floor Wednesday night.

He announced Kentavious Caldwell-Pope would sit the Magic's second preseason game. Asked if there was any concern about the newcomer not getting his time with his new teammates, Mosley demurred and said Caldwell-Pope was a veteran who knows how to prepare himself for the regular season.

That was the general vibe even after an uneven showing in the team's preseason opener Monday at the New Orleans Pelicans. There was no sense of panic or frustration from what they showed. There was just the acknowledgment they would have to correct their miscues.

There is always another game in the NBA, of course. Always another chance to get those reps in.

Maybe not that many. The league and the Magic announced their third preseason game Friday against the New Orleans Pelicans would be canceled as Hurricane Milton makes its way across Florida. The Magic will stay in San Antonio on Thursday and fly back to Orlando on Friday.

The Orlando Magic have just one more preseason game remaining—one week from Friday against the Philadelphia 76ers.

There is still a lot of work to do. But there is a lot more confidence the Magic can make the most of this time.

The Magic look more like a veteran team this preseason. They are doing what they need to do to get themselves right and ready. It is easy to see in growing pockets throughout the Orlando Magic's 107-97 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday that this team is closer.

Wednesday represented progress. And that is all the team can ask for at this stage. even if there is still clear work remaining.

"The effort was there," Mosley said after Wednesday's game. "I liked the way our first unit started the game. There was a pop that they had. Their ability to share the basketball, move the basketball, defend at a high clip without fouling early. Then that second unit came in and continued that a little bit.

"But what we continue to talk about and continue to hit home on is we have to do a better job taking care of the basketball. We've got to be better there. We will continue to improve there and work on it and harp on it as long as we need to so we understand the value of the basketball."

Orlando harped on the team's turnovers—23 for 26 points against New Orleans on Monday—and the team worked to reduce those this time. The Magic had just one turnover in the first quarter, between their starters they had only five, all from Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner.

Jalen Suggs, still getting comfortable with the ball in his hands more, came back from a five-turnover game and did not commit a miscue Wednesday. He was just one for six from three, but like so many things, it is still about process and getting the right shots.

Franz Wagner can likely say the same things. He scored eight points on 3-for-9 shooting (also missing his two 3-point attempts). But he got to his spots and stayed aggressive. He was looking for his shot. It is easy to see how he can find his place on this team.

Paolo Banchero did not have the scoring impact he had in Monday's game. But he looked like a seasoned vet with the pace that he played.

He looked like it again Wednesday, never exerting himself more than he needed.

But he made some downright jaw-dropping plays, in one instance feathering a bounce pass to a cutting Jett Howard for a dunk, and then in another play, spinning past his man at the free throw line to get to the basket for a dunk.

Banchero scored 12 points on 3-for-6 shooting, adding six rebounds, and a more impressive seven assists in nearly 17.5 minutes. He made simple plays and, taking these two games combined, looks ready for a breakthrough season.

That helped spur ball movement for the Magic that elevated the offense and made it look far more in sync than it did Monday.

Jett Howard became the beneficiary of that, scoring 19 points on 6-for-10 shooting and 3-for-7 shooting from deep. He added three assists for good measure. His breakthrough was encouraging for the second-year player still trying to make his mark in the league.

Defensively, the Magic came out firing too. They were intense with their ball pressure and rotated quickly and cleanly. It was clear to see the communication between the players as they switched and scrambled quickly to cover for each other.

For the starters, it was the kind of game that felt like a major course correction from Monday. It was a game where they took the lessons from the first game and implemented them. If preseason is an extension of practice, the Magic got the message.

The Magic's three main starters—Wagner, Banchero and Suggs—were at least +12, showing that they largely won their minutes.

It was still a preseason game though. There were miscues and mistakes. Turnovers remain a calling card issue for the Magic.

The second unit struggled but that is part of playing preseason basketball

The second unit struggled to maintain the same level of efficiency and precision. The ball started to get thrown around the gym a bit. After one turnover in the first quarter, the Magic had nine in the second and finished with 20 for 30 points in the game.

The second unit was not nearly as sharp defensively either. Orlando gave up three free throws in the first quarter and 14 in the second.

Turnovers and fouling are still the kind of mistakes you expect to see in the preseason. They are things the team can still correct as they get on the same page.

But if the preseason is meant to see the team improve game-over-game, it was easy to see the Magic were better, more focused, more intense and more together than they were in their preseason opener.

The Magic did what they needed to do to rebuild some confidence and prepare themselves for the regular season.

The realities of the storm in Central Florida though means they will have to do more work behind the scenes with just one preseason game left.

But if the way Orlando has approached the preseason so far is any indication, the team knows how to get itself ready. The team looked more prepared Wednesday night.