The Orlando Magic were upset Friday night following their win over the Brooklyn Nets.
They needed an 11-0 run to close that game, getting three huge threes from Tristan da Silva and Franz Wagner, to put away the struggling Nets. It was a rough night for the Magic, but one that ended in relief.
Sunday's loss to the Houston Rockets felt the exact opposite. There was disappointment in the result, as well as the missed opportunities during the game, which contributed to the overtime defeat. The team let one slip away.
But unlike Friday night, it seemed the team was largely encouraged. The team knew it got beat at the end, but that if it played with that intensity every night, Orlando would come out on top more often than not.
Sunday's loss was closer to their ideal than Friday's win. And that was an important note to internalize as this team tries to climb the standings and right the ship after its slow start out of the gates.
"I thought we played really well," Franz Wagner said after shootaround Tuesday. "I thought we played together, more connected. Obviously didn't finish the game the way we wanted to. I don't think it was necessarily one thing. But I think what we should take away is we played with that effort, physicality and focus for the remainder of the game, we'll be in good shape."
This is a critical mindset shift. And one every title-contending team needs to have. There must be a focus on playing the right way every night and making that consistent. The results will come from doing things the right way.
That is the biggest thing that has changed. The Magic are finding their standard and caring more about that as they grow into the season. Winning the right way matters with the goals the team has in mind.
Righting the ship
The Orlando Magic started the season 1-4 and seemed frustrated with their inability to hit that standard. They were disappointed in the results.
Coach Jamahl Mosley said before Friday's game that the biggest thing that has changed from that moment was the team stopped focusing on the results and started caring more about the process.
The Orlando Magic are 6-3 since that loss to the Detroit Pistons. All of their numbers that would point to that change, too, beyond the wins and losses.
Orlando's defense has been the seventh best in the league since Oct. 30, giving up 109.7 points per 100 possessions. That is more in line with the dominant, physical brand the team wants to play.
It helps that the offense has come around too, ranking 12th with 116.9 points per 100 possessions.
The Magic are still rounding into form and dulling some sharp edges. But more and more, the Magic are hitting that standard.
"There's going to be games where we win and we know we should have played better and games that we lose but we feel like we were in," Anthony Black said after shootaround Tuesday. "Just like last game, we felt our instinct was right and our effort was right. We just made some mistakes down the stretch. I think you have to focus on the good things and take away the mistakes down the stretch."
Obviously, the team still wants to win and expects to win every night. There are no moral victories with a team trying to compete for a championship -- especially when you miss eight free throws in a game that went to overtime.
The team is reviewing the tape of those mistakes and trying to learn from them. They are not getting those games back. And as important as process is, results still matter.
Focused on the process
What focusing on the process does, though, is it forces the team to focus on the how. If they do the process correctly every night, the result will likely end in their favor because of this team's talent and potential.
The Magic know they have enough to compete. Playing the way they want to play will put them in a position to win more often than not.
"I think it's a delicate balance because obviously you want to win every game that you play, but you also have to understand there is a way you have to go about doing it," Mosley said after shootaround Tuesday. "People know it's hard to win in this league. So you have to set a tone every single night. If you can walk off every night and say you played the way we wanted to play, you have to live with those results."
Winning is the end goal. You do all of these things to put the team in a better position to win.
That is why the response to the team's slow start has been so vital. It was an early character check as the team had to find themselves again and realize that there was still work to come together.
Wagner said the team has made good steps in the last few weeks. They are still working to improve and know the goal is ultimately to play their best basketball as the Playoffs begin. That is still the direction the team is headed.
All of the Magic's goals are still in front of them.
"I think it's important. In a long season, you can get caught up in stuff you can't always control," Wagner said after shootaround Tuesday. "I think that mindset helps with that a little bit. But at the end of the day, we do want to get wins. But trusting that mentality will, in the long term, pay out in a better way than just focusing on every single win or loss."
The Magic are quickly finding their way to play. They are quickly trusting their identity and each other. The results have shown what that can do.
The team is building itself back up and eager to stack some more wins. To do that the team will have to trust its process and play the right way more consistently.