The Orlando Magic were the talk of the NBA throughout November.
During their first West Coast road trip in November, they stunned the world with a never-say-die attitude that peaked with Franz Wagner's game-winning three to cap a come-from-behind effort against the Los Angeles Lakers.
That was only the start of their exploits.
They erased a 25-point deficit without their top three players to defeat the Miami Heat and then followed it up with a 15-point comeback win over the Boston Celtics. It was the definitive moment for this team. It was proof that they could win and compete no matter who was on the floor, that their culture and identity were deeply embedded and everlasting.
Those two games were the last time the Magic won consecutive games. Orlando has gotten its two All-Stars in Banchero and Wagner back into the lineup, and they have continued to play like stars. But, even granting Jalen Suggs missing most of January with a low back strain and now a left quad contusion, the Magic look nothing like that team.
It is hard to believe that team was the same team or the same group.
That team would never allow itself to get run out of the gym (on most nights, the loss to the New York Knicks in the NBA Cup game happened). That team would never allow itself to get outworked or allow poor shooting to lead to a drop-off on defense. That team would never allow itself to get "punked."
That is happening repeatedly now. The most recent example—a 119-90 defeat to the surging Portland Trail Blazers—only seems to ring the alarm bells louder.
Orlando is regularly struggling to compete and increasingly not looking like the team that brought all that optimism two months ago.
This is not Orlando Magic basketball no matter how you slice it. The team has lost the identity that led to its success.
"They turned up the heat on us," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Thursday's loss. "We turned it over. We didn't respond very well to their aggression. That was not an Orlando-Magic-played basketball game. We were soft. We got punked. It's not who we are."
A complete collapse
This seemed to come out of nowhere after the Orlando Magic put together a rousing victory over the Detroit Pistons on Saturday and seemed to have things going right until the final six minutes in their double overtime loss to the Miami Heat.
On Thursday, the Magic dominated the first quarter with 35 points and then went completely quiet, giving up easy runs to the basket, fouling seemingly on every possession, getting beat to every loose ball and in transition and then eventually giving way with turnovers as they tried desperately to get back into the game.
Orlando found itself down nine at the half after leading by as much as 10 points, scoring the game's first 10 points with quick, decisive cutting and ball movement and a stingy defense that was stymying Portland's attack.
That lasted all of six minutes. The Blazers started finding their rhythm with short rolls by Deandre Ayton, who hit jumpers and attacks at the rim.
Portland paraded to the foul line all night, going 25 for 31 for the game. It started with eight first-quarter free-throw attempts and continued with eight more in the second quarter. The Magic, a team that relies on its ability to draw fouls, had just seven at the half.
Orlando were clearly not the aggressors. And with Portland draining threes and tearing apart Orlando's defense to shoot 57.9 percent from the floor and 6 for 11 from, Orlando was struggling to keep up.
"I think we have to be the aggressor and not be the one reacting to everything happening on the court," Mosley said after Thursday's loss. "I think teams have been comfortable in these moments. I think our ability to make them uncomfortable from the start of the game to the finihs is what we have to look at and be better at."
The Blazers were indeed very comfortable. Offense flowed easily. But things got worse in the second half.
Knowing the team needed to match Portland's energy and intensity on defense, the defense wilted again. It seemed the Magic hit adversity and they could not meet the challenge.
The mental lapses and the frustration they cannot make up for add to the snowball effect the Magic face. They did not have the mental lapses earlier in the season. They faced adversity, but they overcame it.
That is not happening right now. This team is soft not only physically but mentally right now. Frustration is winning.
"I think as a unit, we saw a few possessions whether it was offensively or defensively not go our way and I think that we started being a little tentative, second-guessing ourselves, not being as aggressive and not being as sure with our movements," Cole Anthony said after Thursday's loss. "There was doubt and we were hesitant with what we wanted to do on the offensive and defensive side. It turned into them punking us."
Portland extended the lead to 25 points in the third quarter, outscoring Orlando 29-20 even with Portland's shooting cooling off. The Magic tried forcing everything and turned it over seven times for 15 points. The Blazers pummeled the Magic for every mistake—they scored 15 points off turnovers in the third quarter and 29 off 16 turnovers for the game.
The Magic eventually just let go of the rope. They let adversity beat them and they did not have a response. They put their effort in the wrong places.
That is how a deficit expands the way it expanded in this loss. A team has to give into their desperation and lose their gameplan and identity.
Leaning on defense
The Orlando Magic know it cannot lean on its offense to get it out of the hole. The team does not have the personnel right now to succeed without an elite defense.
In January, Orlando gave up 113.7 points per 100 possessions, nearly six points worse than the team's season average. Thursday marked the second-worst defensive game of the season.
Without defense, this Magic team has no hope. And yet they could not reach back and find their defense They could not find that identity and culture that defined this team.
That was something everyone thought this team was made of. It was so embedded that it defined who this team is. There is still confidence they can find their way back out as players continue to return from injury and integrate back into the roster.
"This group definitely has the mental capacity and the togetherness and the bond that understands exactly what will get out of this," Mosley said after Thursday's loss. "It's not fun to go through. It doesn't look good, it doesn't feel good to get your butt kicked by a team twice that you knew exactly what they were going to do. It's more of a mental understanding the game plan piece that you have to bounce yourself out of.
"This is a group that will bounce back. As we continue to gain a rhythm and momentum, we're going to be OK. But we have to take a hard look in the mirror in this situation to understand what we need to do to get out of that."
Before the Magic go anywhere else, they have to find that spirit and intensity again. That is the only way they get themselves out of this.
There are no Xs and Os to save the day, it is will and confidence that can get this team out of this rut. They must trust their work and have confidence this will change.