The lead collapsed so quickly, it was hard to get your head around where it went.
Leading by 19 points midway through the third quarter, the Orlando Magic looked like the team everyone imagined. They were hounding the Houston Rockets for rebounds and moving the ball quickly to get open shots. They overpowered the Rockets with their physicality and their discipline.
That it fell apart in the span of roughly 4.5 minutes of game time makes things sting all the more. Four turnovers in the third quarter and some suddenly stagnant offense let the Rockets get out in transition and find the rhythm they could not get beforehand.
In all, it was a 20-0 third-quarter run that gave the Rockets the lead heading into the fourth quarter. All of Orlando's hard work collapsed quickly, leading to a tight game down the stretch that Kevin Durant was always going to win.
Houston stole one at the Kia Center, 113-108, on Thursday night.
The moments the team regretted were not late-game shots or missed opportunities late. It was all the things the Magic should have done and the things squarely in their control. This was a game where the Magic beat themselves with turnovers and lax focus yet again.
"I thought we beat ourselves. I thought that we had a few turnovers, lapses on the defensive end. They were able to gain some momentum," Desmond Bane said after Thursday's loss. "They are who they are for a reason. They've got two of the best half-court players in the NBA, and we gave them life. We're better than that. We've got to bury them when we've got the chance to."
Orlando has been far too used to this frustration. And while it feels like the Magic have turned some corner to be more consistently competitive, there are still these reminders of all the team's inherent flaws. They do not have everything fully together.
At the end of the day, the Magic have only themselves to blame for leaving the door open. They have only themselves to blame for struggling to put those pieces together.
The devastating 20-0 run
It is hard to convey how shocking it was to see the Houston Rockets suddenly come alive.
The Orlando Magic built a 76-57 lead with 5:04 to play after Jalen Suggs stole the ball from Reed Sheppard near mid-court and shoveled it ahead for Paolo Banchero to dunk the ball.
Orlando had defended like maniacs to that point, giving up a 96.6 defensive rating. They forced steals and deflections. They limited offensive rebounds and forced everything in the paint. It easily could have been the best the team has played all year. The Magic looked like the team everyone imagined.
How could things collapse?
"I thought we just got sloppy," Paolo Banchero said in the locker room after Thursday's game. "You can't give up runs like that. I think we just have to get better playing with leads. It's something that has been killing us all year. We get up double digits, and we get super lackadaisical on both sides, waste possessions that leads to threes. When teams are storming back like that, every basket feels like five points. That's a tough collapse as a team."
That is the best way to describe the Magic's approach. They became loose with the ball and turned it over. The ball did not flow nearly as well as the Rockets closed the gap and upped their pressure.
It took only seven possessions for the Rockets to flip the game in their favor. They got three 3-pointers from Reed Sheppard. They forced three turnovers against Jalen Suggs -- and five of the Magic's 12 turnovers for 13 of their 20 points off turnovers in the third quarter.
Mistakes compounded as Suggs got a technical foul heading into a timeout with the Magic still leading by 12. The Magic turned it over on the ensuing possessions.
The Rockets awoke while the Magic were struggling to find themselves again.
"We need to take care of the basketball," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Thursday's loss. "That's what sparked them. We had done a great job prior to that taking care of the ball and making them play long possessions. When you give a team like this easy baskets, they definitely capitalize on that."
That is how the Magic beat themselves once again. They left the door open.
Leaving the door open
The Orlando Magic are in a better space and playing better in general. But this team is not trying simply to play better. They are trying to win and win championships.
And losses like Thursday's to the Houston Rockets have been all too familiar. The team has seen itself tantalizingly close to reaching its potential, only to stub its toe, trip and fall.
They could only point to their play and how they made plays that gave the Rockets more confidence.
"We gave the game away," Javon Carter said after Thursday's loss. "We definitely should have had that one. We have to be better when we get leads. Just keep it simple. I felt like we were trying to get the home run play when we should have just stayed solid."
Orlando lost what had built the lead. Carter said the team turned away from what had worked.
It is really more about the team getting comfortable and relaxed. They lose their urgency. They lose the basics that helped build the lead. Orlando made miscues that left the door open for a good team like Houston to win.
What built the lead, Banchero said, was good defense and moving the ball. What lost it was turning it over, taking rushed shots and becoming stagnant.
"Once you are up, especially against good teams, that's when you have to harp on the basics," Paolo Banchero said in the locker room after Thursday's game. "That's what got us up was playing defense and moving the ball and getting good shots. Once you get up, you can't get comfortable and start being willy-nilly. You have to be really sharp and put them away."
The team was never out of the game, leading by five midway through the fourth quarter and trailing by one with three minutes to play.
But Kevin Durant had the plays to close the game. And eventually the Rockets' shot-making late won.
The game, simply, got away from them.
The Magic know they were the cause of much of their destruction again.