The Orlando Magic had every answer for the Golden State Warriors throughout the second half.
A poor shooting first half? The Magic buckled down on defense and forced turnovers to stay in the game, waiting for their shooting to peak through. They attacked the glass with reckless abandon and feasted on second-chance opportunities.
Stephen Curry getting going in a late-game situation?
The Magic had answers. A Franz Wagner bucket. An Anthony Black runner. A Tristan da Silva three. A Wendell Carter rebound or shot.
And then a Jamal Cain putback to tie the game and force overtime.
The Magic put themselves in the position to win. They did the job they had struggled to do for much of the season: To own the possession game and give themselves every chance.
They came up one play short.
The depleted Magic were running out of gas, with Jase Richardson and Anthony Black leaving in overtime to apparent knocks.
Stephen Curry was still putting on a barrage, as he always seems to do. And he got the last laugh at last.
He hit a layup the Magic could not answer. Wendell Carter missed a pair of free throws, about the only mistake he made down the stretch as he commanded the paint on both ends. Curry answered those misses with another tough runner and a four-point lead with too little time remaining.
The Magic found their road block in a 126-119 overtime loss to the Warriors.
Franz Wagner and Stephen Curry both put on shows.
Wagner scored 30 points and dished out 11 assists to lead the Magic. Curry had 41 points on 13-for-19 shooting and 5-for-10 shooting from three.
The Magic got plenty of help in the end despite a terrible shooting effort for much of the game -- 38.1-percent shooting overall and 18-for-54 (33.3 percent) from three. But it ended up as another loss. The Magic are still looking to put enough pieces together to get the win they desperately needed.
Orlando might have bucked a few troubling trends to stay in the game. But sitting now at 2-7, close does not feel like it is good enough. The Magic must find a way to stay above water and find a way to win.
The possession game
The Orlando Magic have had a lot of deficiencies this season.
The shooting is one (more on that later). The other has been the possession game. Orlando has given away possessions through turnovers and rebounding.
For the first time all season, it felt like the Magic let their defense lead for much of Saturday's game. They kind of had to, given how difficult it was to score.
There was no chance to overcome that without winning the possession game. And the Magic dominated it throughout the game.
The Magic finished the game with just 14 turnovers for 10 points. They gave up only three offensive rebounds for two second-chance points.
On the other end, the Magic forced 19 turnovers for 26 points and had 33 second-chance points on 24 offensive rebounds.
Orland beat Golden State 134-111 on field goal and free throw attempts combined. They had a 113-80 field goal attempt advantage.
If the goal is to get as many bites at the apple, the Magic won that battle for just the second time this season. And that is a big reason why Orlando stayed in the game despite their poor shooting percentages.
Shooting still the concern
It feels like for each of these takeaway segments, I have to mention the shooting.
The Orlando Magic just are not able to shoot the ball effectively enough, regardless of the quality of the looks they get.
Orlando right now cannot do the most basic skill in the game. The Magic need to make shots.
They started passing on some open looks and attacked the paint in the first half. Those floaters did not work. They started firing from three, and the open shots continued not to fall for much of the game.
Things improved after a 7-for-26 first-half showing. Orlando hit some key threes to climb back into the game and take the lead late in the third quarter.
But that comeback happened because the Magic started attacking the inside first. The threes complemented that game. And that might be the most important lesson.
The Magic gobbled up offensive rebounds, but still shot 38.1 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from three. They went 9 for 23 from three in the second half to give their offense a little bit of a boost and some confidence.
Orlando clearly does not have the personnel to run the 3-point-heavy offense Sean Sweeney running.
Nothing ultimately matters if the Magic cannot score. And that has been consistent for this team throughout much of this season now. Offense is still a grind.
Bench steps up
Yesterday, I got tagged in an X post from Sleeper Orlando listing the Orlando Magic's bench and asking, "Is there a worse bench in the league?"
Entering Saturday's game, the Magic were 23rd in the league in bench scoring at 31.1 per game. You could argue that their bench is pretty abysmal. And continue to argue that injuries have at least something to do with that.
It has not been good any way you want to slice it.
Considering the non-Franz Wagner starters for the Orlando Magic went 2-for-27 from the floor in the first half, the bench was a huge factor in the game.
It started with Jamal Cain logging his first career double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. He was one of the few players who could get anything going offensively in the first half.
Jevon Carter stepped in and hit a trio of big 3-pointers in the first half to give the team some spark.
Goga Bitadze played in the backup center minutes in the second half and was a presence on the glass and around the basket on both ends.
The Magic's bench is still nothing to write home about. Orlando still needs a lot of scoring from its starters -- particularly Franz Wagner and Anthony Black with Desmond Bane out with an illness.
But for this game, the bench was a key factor to giving the Magic some life and keeping them in the game.
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