Orlando Magic kept their most important playoff quality amid adversity

The NBA Cup is not the NBA Playoffs, let's make that 100 percent clear.

This manufactured in-season tournament creates some interest in games early in the season where there might not be any otherwise. It creates stakes where there would not be otherwise. It creates intensity, even if it is just cosmetic.

It still creates the kind of situations that test this Orlando Magic team. The kind of situations this team has to persevere through with all the adversity that has hit them early in the season.

The team needs a little stress test and a gut check. They need to see how they respond to adversity in games they have to win. They need to know if they have the will to win. They need to keep stacking these wins up.

When the Philadelphia 76ers took a 10-point lead behind the hot shooting of rookie Jared McCain in the third quarter, the Orlando Magic looked like they had turned back into a pumpkin. The offense just could not do enough to hold back the Sixers with all the scoring might they had.

That is not who this Magic team is though. They are not a team that wilts or goes away. They are not a team that does not stop trying. That was evident even in their blowout losses on the road. Now the pieces are coming together.

The Sixers never stood a chance, succumbing to the suffocating Magic defense in a 25-14 fourth quarter. The Magic moved to 2-0 and the best record and point differential in the early NBA Cup action with a 98-86 victory, their fifth straight game holding an opponent to less than 100 points (something the team has not done since 2016).

This is who the Magic are. And this is what they are made of. They have grown into the kind of team that never cracks and finds a way.

That is the most valuable skill a team can have when the games really count in the spring.

"I would say it shows a lot of growth," Franz Wagner said after Friday's game. "We've been in those situations before where we kind of let it go. I thought we did a good job regrouping, finding some huddles when it's a little chaotic out there. I think our defense carried us through that second half."

An impressive fourth quarter

The run started late in the third quarter when Anthony Black checked into the game. He got a rebound and pushed the pace down the court to finish a layup to bring the deficit to four. He then blindsided Joel Embiid and got a free layup to cut the deficit to one.

The Orlando Magic were seemingly off and running, pushing the tempo more as their defense squeezed the Sixers throughout the night and especially in the fourth quarter. Orlando was first to every loose ball as the team chopped into that deficit.

Like so many teams before them this season, the Magic's defense closed in and squeezed the life out of the Sixers, killing any chance for them to come back.

Coach Jamahl Mosley called the fourth quarter "impressive" as the Magic put another awe-inspiring defensive performance. But what impressed him most is how they never wavered, even in the face of their own struggles.

"I just think these guys locked in, stuck with the game plan, sat down and guarded one on one, tried to do a better job of defending without fouling. But just the intensity, the focus, the sticking with the game plan, making every shot tough," Mosley said after Friday's win. "I thought our guys continued to guard, continued to battle, didn't let it get away from them. But it was really that push in the third that gave us a better feeling about it and gave us the momentum."

Once the Magic got momentum, they never let it go. Their defense never let the Philadelphia 76ers get off the mat as they made Joel Embiid uncomfortable.

And, of course, they turned to Franz Wagner for the finish.

Wagner scored 31 points to go with 11 rebounds and six assists, taking his turn to help hold Paul George to 4-for-15 shooting and 13 points in the game.

Wagner fouled McCain out with 4:56 to play. He hit a step-back three-pointer with about four minutes left to give the Magic a seven-point lead. On the next possession, as he tried to get the switch he wanted, he found Jalen Suggs creeping away for an open three, his only 3-point make of the night, for a 10-point lead.

When the game was on the line, everything clicked for the Magic as they put the game to bed.

"The want in the fourth quarter after a long game where they have played well to chop wood and carry water," Jalen Suggs said after Friday's win. "And it broke because we kept it up through all four quarters. They were scoring and hitting tough ones. But we wore them down when we got to the fourth quarter and we were still hounding. You saw the wear and tear that it took on them. It says a lot about everyone's character and everyone's will and want to do the things the coaches are telling us. The results are carrying us so how could you not continue to follow those things."

The Magic do not wear down and always respond

The Orlando Magic have established themselves as a team that gets stronger in the fourth quarter.

They have the league's best defensive rating (90.9 points allowed per 100 possessions) and the league's best net rating (+18.6 points per 100 possessions) in the fourth quarter.

This is a team that gets stronger as the games go on. And while they are a mere 3-2 in clutch situations through 14 games, there is a confidence their defense will deliver them if they can get to the fourth quarter.

This is a team that is full of confidence.

But that tells us something doesn't it? That is still valuable information for teams trying to learn playoff pressure and trying to make a name for themselves early in the season.

That is how the Orlando Magic used this tournament last year. That is what this group specifically seemed to provide the Magic when the NBA Cup groups were made during the summer.

It is wrong to say that a November game means very much. But the NBA Cup court and those stakes are hovering in the background. That made this feel a bit different that made this feel like a test of this team's composure and whether they can rally to win.

The Magic learned last year that these games can mean something in the Playoffs. They are an important building block for the rest of the season.

"I think it shows the growth," Suggs said after Friday's win. "Before it was we'd get up and those runs we'd let teams get back into games. When those runs happened, we'd look depleted or get down on ourselves. We can't bounce back from one of their runs. I think we've been doing a good job staying in the game, never rattled, never going too far left or right. We're able to come back to center and accomplish the task at hand."

Moe Wagner said sometimes a team has to fake it until they make it. This team has walked with a lot of bravado and belief. But now they have a load of results to suggest that they are not faking it as much anymore. They have made it.

Regardless of how much weight anyone can put into a game like this or whether you believe the stakes are real in this NBA Cup, the Magic showed something that will be valuable to their Playoff push.

They showed a mettle and determination not to lose. They showed the composure to stay with their gameplan and overcome adversity. They showed they are always in control.

That will matter in the spring as they continue to develop in the fall.