Every prediction and hope for the Orlando Magic for this season relied on one assumption: The Magic would remain one of the elite defenses in the league.
That was the basis for the team bursting onto the Playoff scene in 2024 and helping the team find away to make it back to the Playoffs in 2025 despite loads of injuries. Defense, toughness and physicality were the bedrocks of Jamahl Mosley's teams.
After five games then, who is this team? What is this team all about?
A game after giving up 136 points in a listless defensive effort against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Orlando Magic gave up another 135 in a 135-116 loss to the Detroit Pistons. There was not even the fake comeback that made the game close in the fourth quarter.
The Magic did not display any of the mental toughness and defensive aptitude that have made this team such a dominant force. The offense might be improved, but that seems irrelevant. This team was not built to outscore anybody.
The Magic need to find their identity again. Just five games into the season, the Magic are asking themselves some deep existential questions.
"We've got to sit down and guard on the defensive end," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Wednesday's loss. "There is no other way to put it. I could sit here and tell you a whole bunch of things that happened throughout the game, we've got to guard. We have to take some pride on defense. You've got to sit down and want to sit and guard your man and not worry about what is happening on the offensive end of the floor."
And so the question remains: Who is this team? What do they want to accomplish? And do they have the will to execute these things?
Orlando thought it knew its identity. But increasingly, they are not finding the path they carved over the last two years.
Mental toughness gut check
Defense is a mindset more than anything else. The Orlando Magic were a team that was not going to get pushed around or bullied. They fouled a lot, but they were not going to let teams get anything easy on them and play physically enough to deter teams.
The Magic have not been able to find that center defensively so far this season.
The past two games, the Magic gave up not only more than 130 points but a defensive rating greater than 135 points per 100 possessions. It marked the first time the Magic gave up more than 130 points per 100 possessions in consecutive games since Kyrie Irving's 60-point game followed by Saddiq Bey's 51-point game in March 2022.
Both of those occurred in the depths of the Magic's early rebuild in Jamahl Mosley's first season with the team.
But that speaks to something else. This team is playing defense like a young team tanking for a Lottery pick, not a team with an established culture and championship aspirations.
Nothing will change until the Magic's defense changes.
"We just got to find it," Franz Wagner said after Wednesday's loss. "I feel like it is not the first game in a short season that we left the court feeling like we didn't play as hard as we can. That's unacceptable."
Wagner said part of it is effort and part of it is not being locked in. But it is frustrating because the team can identify and say the right things, but answers are not coming easily.
The Magic lack mental toughness right now.
The minute something goes wrong, this team loses its way and loses its formula for winning. It is easy to see heads drop and shoulders droop and players arguing with the refs as the other team goes to the other end and scores. The team is frustratingly late and fouling instead of containing the ball and challenging shots.
Teams are running back on the Magic in a way they never did before. Orlando has let frustration compound and grow.
The offense certainly plays a role. But the Magic are scoring more this year than in year's past. And the defense is still lagging.
"I just think sometimes when our offense slows down, we let it affect the defensive effort," Paolo Banchero said after Wednesday's loss. "We give up too many easy buckets. I think it's just a combination of everything. We've just got to play with more heart."
The Pistons, trailing by as much as 10 in the first half and leading by only one at halftime, blew the doors open on the Magic in the second half.
What ended up as a 16-3 run with nearly four minutes between field goals blew the game open for the Pistons. The run extended to 28-9 to help the Pistons build a 16-point lead they pretty much would not give up.
Orlando had no way to answer because the team could not get stops.
Repeating problems
Most of the Orlando Magic's issues seem to be repeating problems -- symptoms of the larger frustration that the team has struggled with its identity.
The Orlando Magic held the Detroit Pistons to just 42.9 percent shooting in the first half. The Pistons shot only 7 for 20 from three. This would typically be the sign of a strong defensive showing.
But it was still an embarrassing 135.4 defensive rating in the first half because of all the same problems.
The Magic put the Pistons on the line, giving up 16-for-18 shooting at the foul line as the Magic continued to miss their own free throws. They gave up nine offensive rebounds for 13 second-chance points. They gave up eight points off eight turnovers while failing to turn the Pistons over.
Even though Detroit could not hit a shot, Orlando was not dictating the terms to them. Eventually, the Pistons were going to break out. And Orlando's own offensive frustrations only fed the defensive shortcomings further in the second half.
"We started off great," Mosley said after Wednesday's loss. "I thought we started off with a great amount of poise, grit and resilience to the physicality. Then we let go of it. Teams are going to go on runs, but we can't let it affect the way we sit down and guard."
The Pistons ended the game with 26 points off 17 turnovers and 14 offensive rebounds for 20 second-chance points. Detroit took 34 free throws, making 30 of them, beating Orlando at the line despite Orlando's 40 free throw attempts.
The final nail was the Pistons scoring 64 points in the paints. The Magic let go of the rope.
This is unlike what the team has done for the past two seasons as they became a playoff team. This is who the team has to become again.
And so the Magic have a lot of hard truths to consider as this road trip continues. The Magic have to hope this is the wake-up call that gets them to commit to their identity. Defense like this is unsustainable if the Magic want to win.