Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley explained before Friday's NBA Cup game against the Brooklyn Nets that the difference between the team's 1-4 star and its 5-2 spurt since was one of focus.
The team shifted its focus from the results to the process. They focused on what it would take to win night in and night out.
The team's defense notably came under control since then, and the team started playing more composed and minimizing its mistakes. The Magic had found their process.
But that process can be lost quickly. The Magic still have bad habits to work through and get through. And those bad habits can still cost them.
What might be different -- the only part of the standard the Magic met in Friday's 105-98 win over the Nets -- is that this team can still will itself to victory.
A turnover-filled, stagnant fourth quarter left the Magic trailing by four points with 2:27 to play. The Magic were running out of time to salvage the game and missing shots on their way -- including a Jalen Suggs step-back three and a pair of Franz Wagner free throws.
In the final 1:49, the Magic found their spark. Tristan da Silva hit his fifth three of the game off a kickout from Wendell Carter. Then Franz Wagner banked in a three in transition and hit a step-back over Nic Claxton to cap off a go-ahead 11-0 run to close the game.
The Magic survived. Not the way they wanted, but the way they needed.
"It's good. Obviously winning close game sis really important," Wagner said after Friday's game. "We have a lot to clean up even in the last couple of minutes. Sometimes luck is on your side. You create your own luck a little bit as well. I don't want to take that away from us. We have a lot of stuff that we need to improve over the next couple of games as well."
The Magic got away with a lot in Friday's win. There is still a need to tighten up and avoid the mistakes that frustrated the team throughout the early part of the season.
Orlando could escape them against Brooklyn, but if the team wants to reach its goals, it cannot escape executing its process.
Fighting for the process
It was not that the Orlando Magic disrespected their opponent, the 1-10 Brooklyn Nets. But they came out of the gates with a looseness and a laxness that was the opposite of the sharp and focused game they played Wednesday against the New York Knicks.
Orlando turned it over seven times in the first quarter, falling behind by 11 toward the end of the quarter. It became an uphill climb throughout the game.
The Magic finished with 19 turnovers for 21 points, each one seemingly breathing life into the Nets and their upset bid.
Orlando controlled the turnovers to help erase a 16-point second-quarter deficit and build a seven-point third-quarter lead, but they came back in the fourth quarter with six in the final period, including three in the first three minutes. The Nets only managed two points off those turnovers, allowing the Magic to get away with their miscues.
"You go back and look at all the turnovers. You understand how you did it and why you did it," Jamahl Mosley said after Friday's game. "You have to continue to look at all those things. When we don't turn it over, we're a really good team. When we sit down and guard like we did in the fourth quarter, we're a really good team. That's part of the process. How do you do that on a consistent basis?"
Consistency has been elusive for the Magic in that regard. It is one of the many things holding this team back.
Turnovers have been a repeated problem throughout the season. Orlando is 24th in the league in turnover rate at 16.4 percent. The team is 21st giving up 20.1 points off turnovers per game.
The Magic still have a lot to clean up on that front. And particularly without Paolo Banchero in the lineup, the team has to ensure it finds its poise.
The Magic did not play their game in many ways. They did not play up to their standard. And that is something they are continuing to pursue -- whether they won or not.
Sometimes you need luck
But the important thing too is to win while learning lessons.
If the team is going to falter and struggle to find its way and not play to its standard, it is helpful to win. That means something too.
Earlier in the season, the Orlando Magic's defense would have surely cracked if the offense was not delivering, as it did for chunks of the evening and certainly with the turnovers. The Magic have worked hardest in the last two weeks to reclaim their defensive identity.
They delivered, holding the Brooklyn Nets to 40 points in the second half and 16 in the fourth quarter. Orlando finished with a 106.5 defensive rating, marking the team's second straight game with a defensive rating better than 110 points allowed per 100 possessions.
Both teams were able to take the other out of rhythm.
But Orlando still needed shots to fall. The team still needed a big shot to get all the way over the top, especially with the team still seemingly getting in its own way.
With Paolo Banchero out, it will be tough to win very many games with Franz Wagner and Desmond Bane shooting a combined 14 for 35 and 6 for 16 from three. Until the final two minutes, Wagner had only one 3-pointer to his name (and was 1 for 6).
It was not easy to secure this win. The Magic had to scrap for it all the way.
"Not our standard. That's what we have to focus on is to learn from this," Tristan da Silva said after Friday's game. "Make sure that we understand that we got the win, but we didn't play the way that we want to and just grow from this. Understand that there's obviously games that are important that you kind of have to win ugly. But at the smae time, make sure that we keep improving."
This team is still fighting for its standard. It is still understanding its process.
They were proud of the grit and determination they showed to get the win. But this team wants more. And that is something they are still fighting for.
They will take the win for now and keep fighting for more.