Through the celebrations of Paolo Banchero's return on Friday, something still did not sit right with coach Jamahl Mosley. One thing stood out to the coach.
The Orlando Magic are happy to have their star player back. They could feel his impact and energy for the team. He was a big part of the team's success throughout the game with 34 points in his first game since Oct. 30.
But if it were any other game, the narrative might have been different. It might have centered on his critical mistake late in the game.
Banchero was essential to the team closing the gap and having any chance to win the game. But with 10.1 seconds left, Banchero missed the first of two free throws. He could only cut the lead to one instead of tying it and forcing overtime (where it might be questionable he would play because of his minute restriction for his first game back).
No one talked about that miss in the postgame, as consequential as it might have been. Having Banchero back and his overall game were the highlights of the evening.
But Mosley certainly was. And it was not lost on anyone who the Orlando Magic were playing and the potential playoff implications that come from facing the Milwaukee Bucks.
As the Magic get more whole, they have to consider what they need for the playoffs. And details like making free throws are what will determine their future. It is never too early to think about the playoffs. And that was front and center in their 109-106 loss Friday.
"It doesn't come down to those last plays and we have to remember that," Mosley said after Friday's game. "It's the free-throw line blockouts that we have to make sure we take care of. It's the free throws that we have to knock down. Because we got the opportunities and I think our guys played their tails off. Credit to them for how hard they played on the second night of a back-to-back. We have to continue to focus in on the details of the small possessions within a game."
The details missed
Paolo Banchero's miss was indeed not the only late-game gaffe.
Wendell Carter fouled Brook Lopez in the backcourt after a Trista da Silva miss with the Magic down two and 40.3 seconds to play. That extended the deficit to four and put the Magic in a more desperate situation.
There was Cole Anthony missing the first free throw with the Magic down by three, taking away a chance for the make and putback to tie the game.
Those late-game plays stood out.
Anthony made up for the miss by stealing the rebound from Lopez and setting up Banchero for a potential game-tying three.
In the end, Orlando was 18 for 26 from the foul line in a three-point game. Milwaukee also missed nine free throws, going 14 for 23, but Milwaukee were the ones to come out on top.
It was not just the end of the game, as Jamahl Mosley noted. The Magic lost some key details throughout the game.
There were two instances where Giannis Antetokounmpo missed consecutive free throws but the Bucks grabbed the rebound and reset their offense. They scored five points off those baskets.
Orlando was happy to have Banchero back, but the team is still missing several key players and still has a thin margin for error. All of those missteps added to a critical defeat. They are mistakes the Magic cannot make when the playoffs begin.
"He just said in the locker room: A small margin for error," Tristan da Silva said after Friday's game. "You could really break it down to multiple possessions in the game where we had mental breakdowns. We've just got to learn from that."
Lessons for the playoffs
There is still a lot of time to learn these lessons. The Orlando Magic will be the first team to reach the season's midpoint after Sunday's game against the Philadelphia 76ers.
They enter that critical point in a tightening Eastern Conference playoff race. With the win, the Milwaukee Bucks inched ahead of the Orlando Magic for fourth in the Eastern Conference by percentage points (the Bucks have played four fewer games than the Magic). The Bucks also now hold a 2-0 series lead in the season series. And because of the quirk of the NBA Cup quarterfinal, Friday was Milwaukee's only trip to Orlando this season.
The Orlando Magic have the same number of losses as the sixth-place Indiana Pacers (and one more win) and one more loss than the seventh-place Miami Heat (they have two more wins).
The Magic have the same record through 40 games as they did last year. According to the analytics site Positive Residual, the Magic also have the second-easiest remaining schedule.
The promise of the team getting healthier softens the blow of how tight things are getting. The Magic will turn things around and go on a string of wins.
But all of these are of the same piece.
Now is the time with Banchero returning for the team to sharpen its focus and get these details back under control. The Magic have slipped under the weight of all the injuries, losing 10 of their past 17 games.
Every team goes through a lull at some point.
The Magic went through a lull at this point last season too and fell to 23-22 at one point and eighth in the Eastern Conference before finishing the season with 46 wins and the 5-seed (not to mention sitting in the 2-seed with a week to play in the season).
Banchero's return promises to decrease the team's margin for error and refresh how the team is operating once again.
"It's a long season," Paolo Banchero said after Friday's loss. "Obviously, we would have loved to get the win. You have to have perspective. This was the second night of a back-to-back. We had guys out and me coming back in. There's a lot we could have charged to the game and just kind of gave up. We didn't. Guys stepped in and played huge. I think we all realize what we're capable of. When we're at full strength, that's when we will come together and see what it looks like."
That is still the promise.
When the Magic get back to full strength—with Jalen Suggs back form his low back strain and Franz Wagner back from his torn oblique—this team will be that much more dangerous. The Magic want to let them take their time to return because of how important they are.
Orlando was proud of its effort on the back-to-back and acknowledged on most nights their effort would have gotten them a win. Effort has rarely been an issue for the Magic.
But until then, that means the Magic have to be tight on their details. Especially in games against elite opponents like the Milwaukee Bucks—whom they will see again on Wednesday in Milwaukee before facing the Boston Celtics on Friday—the little mistakes mean a lot more.
As Orlando prepares for the second half of the season, it will be about banking wins and securing the team's position in the standings. But it will also be about sharpening up for the playoffs ahead. Friday's loss was a reminder of how much work there is left to do.