The Orlando Magic are searching for answers right now.
Their defense has collapsed, falling not only out of the top 10 in the league but into the middle of the pack. Their offense, which inspired some cautious optimism early in the season, has returned to a familiar pattern of frustration. The Magic are in danger of returning to the bottom 10 in the league in that category.
Everyone is looking for a solve and finding it difficult to create solutions right now.
The common call from coaches and players is to "trust the process" or go with "process over results."
But in the midst of a three-game losing streak that has dropped the Magic into the 8-seed for the moment that is part of a larger trend of treading water while the team waits for its players to get healthy -- Jalen Suggs returned Saturday while Franz Wagner will miss his third game since playing in the two Europe games with what the team is calling left high ankle sprain injury management -- the Magic are trying to find that process.
The simple answers are that the Magic's offense has lost all rhythm, and it is all from familiar problems -- particularly the team's struggles to shoot.
Orlando ranks 29th in the league in 3-point shooting at 33.9 percent from deep and 25th in attempts at 32.8 attempts per game. So many of the Magic's issues seem to start with the team's inability to hit from deep.
What has changed is that the Magic are no longer defending despite their poor shooting. That superhuman feat of not letting poor offense affect them has not carried over into this season.
The shooting has been frustrating.
"We're all competitors," Wendell Carter said after shootaround Monday. "We understand the work we have put in over the summer and throughout the season. It gets a little frustrating. I think what we have to do a better job of is pouring that frustration onto the defensive end. It's human nature to get frustrated, but getting out of that funk and putting the team in front of yourself. I think that's the biggest thing."
That has been a message that has been echoing throughout the team. Paolo Banchero said after Thursday's loss to the Charlotte Hornets that it is mentally difficult to stick with the team's defensive intensity when the offense is such a slog.
The Magic are looking for answers. And the frustration over missing shots is only boiling over.
The shooting issue boils over
That was certainly the issue in Saturday's loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Orlando Magic made only 11 of 40 3-pointers in the game, marking the 15th game where the Magic shot worse than 30 percent from three. The team had 37 such games last year, when the team had one of the worst 3-point percentages of the last decade.
The loss to the Cavs was even more frustrating because of all the good looks the team believed it missed. Orlando lauded the team's process after the game, lamenting the missed shots. Jamahl Mosley reiterated that before Monday's rematch with Cleveland.
Orlando was 10 for 32 on "wide-open" threes (when the closest defender is six or more feet away) in Saturday's game, according to NBA.com's tracking data.
That would suggest the Magic simply missed a lot of open shots. Orlando was 11 for 40 overall, so it would be hard to complain about the team's shot selection, beyond teams simply daring the Magic to shoot.
Orlando has gotten at least part of this process correct.
For the entire season, the Magic average 20.0 wide-open threes per game, 13th in the league. They make only 35.7 percent of those shots, ranking 25th in the league.
Even in the game against the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday, the Orlando Magic were 9 for 23 on these attempts. It was still an above average game.
Since Dec. 7, when Franz Wagner was hurt, the Magic have averaged 21.2 wide-open threes per game, but shot only 35.3 percent.
"Even going back to the Charlotte game, I feel like we have gotten some good looks," Carter said. "I think we can get Des a couple more cleaner looks in terms of the 3-point shot. Other than that, we've got to make shots. Everyone says it's a make-or-miss league. We can play the best defense, but if we aren't making any shots, it's going to be tough to win the game."
So much of this is about stepping into shots with confidence. It feels too simplistic to say that the problem is simply the Magic need to make more shots, but that is truly the answer right now.
Getting the better shooters their shots
There might be something to that part. The Orlando Magic need to get their better shooters these open looks.
Anthony Black leads the team with 3.5 "wide-open" 3-point attempts per game, making only 34.8 percent despite his 3-point gains. Jalen Suggs, typically a strong catch-and-shoot 3-point shooter, makes only 33.8 percent of his 3.2 "wide-open" 3-point attempts per game.
Desmond Bane is behind Wendell Carter (2.8 attempts, 38.1 percent) and Tristan da Silva (2.6 attempts, 39.0 percent) in this category with 2.0 attempts per game and 37.1 percent. Last year he was at 46.9 percent on 2.4 attempts per game.
If there has always been a fix to this, it is about making sure the team's best players and best shooters get more of these shot attempts. That has been an area this offense has struggled. It is not designed to get specific guys the ball. The idea is the ball flows to where it needs to go.
Clearly, that vision has not come to fruition. The Magic are struggling to get over that hump.
Add to that missing open looks, things have been rough for the Magic.
These are all NBA players. They are all capable and should be able to hit open shots.
It is again overly simplistic to say: The Magic need to make open shots. It is hard to do anything if they are not doing that.