Sometimes in the NBA, it is your night. The shots go in and the basket seems a mile wide.
That is what it certainly seemed like when Franz Wagner got the ball late in the shot clock in the second quarter and banked in a three. Things only got luckier when Cory Joseph beat the halftime buzzer with a tip-in after Paolo Banchero hoisted from three, one of his few misses in the first half.
It was the Magic's night. It all added up to a 30-point halftime lead for the Magic. They held onto that throughout the second half on their way to a 113-93 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday.
What matters is how games like this happen. Is it a matter of just hitting some lucky shots? Is it a matter of the other team playing poorly? Is it something they can repeat?
For 2.5 quarters, the Magic played the kind of basketball that reminds everyone what this team is capable of. On defense, they were hounding and physical. On offense, they attacked the hoop and moved to open shooters. Their stars were unstoppable, and their confidence spread to everyone else.
Things were easy. And this is who the Magic could be. The kind of basketball they know they must play.
It has been a while since the Magic have put together a game like this. A few days off in New Orleans provided some needed rest and some relief. This was a performance that felt a long time coming.
"I think it shows when we're locked in as a unit and on the same page that we can get out and run and create easy baskets," Paolo Banchero said after Thursday's win. "I think that's something we want to do more of. We haven't been doing that a lot this season. We've kind of been playing slow. Trying to change that and get our and run every opportunity we have."
Offensive breakthrough
The Orlando Magic certainly benefited from playing an injury-plagued New Orleans Pelicans team on the brink of playoff elimination (Thursday's loss officially ended any lingering postseason dreams). New Orleans entered the game ranked last in the league in defensive rating.
But this Orlando team struggles to score. It is not guaranteed the team can make the good shots a bad defense like New Orleans will allow it to generate. How the Magic attacked this Pelicans defense mattered as much as whether they made their outside shots.
From the start, Orlando was determined to make its living in the paint and work to set up both Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner going to the basket.
Wagner got things going with eight early points in the first quarter. Banchero answered quickly with 14 points. They went a combined 9 for 9 from the floor.
More importantly, the Magic had six assists on 13 field goals and scored 14 of their 32 first-quarter points in the paint. Making shots early helped relax everyone, but it was the defense that led the way.
Orlando expanded the lead to 30 points by the half with a 36-15 second quarter. The Magic got another 12 points from Wagner and 10 points from Banchero. They got nine assists on 13 field goals, making 13 of 19 field goals and four of eight 3-pointers, and scored 16 points in the paint.
More importantly, the Magic forced five turnovers while not turning it over themselves. The Magic had crisp ball movement and aggressive attacking, powered by their defense and defensive activity. They took on the challenge of keeping Zion Williamson from anything easy at the basket and they mostly kept their attention.
This is how the Magic were always supposed to play. Their defense leading a devastating downhill attack led by their two star players and shooters filling in and playing off them. This is what makes them difficult to handle when they play with pace and force.
"I thought they were dominant," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Thursday's win. "They were very in line and in sync with attacking the basket, creating the energy early with an aggression to be able to dominate. Those are things we are going to ask and expect of them and the guys they are on the court with. That's a big thing for us to play with that level of confidence and aggression down the stretch."
It was not just Banchero's 34 points or Wagner's 27 points. Banchero said both he and Wagner were aggressive in this game. But that spread to everyone else. It set the tone for everyone.
It was the ball swinging to Wendell Carter in the dunker spot for eight points and four rebounds while helping set the wall to help slow Zion Williamson. It was Kentavious Caldwell-Pope adding 12 points on 5-for-10 shooting, hitting half of his four 3-point attempts to spread the floor.
It was Cory Joseph stepping in for Cole Anthony (a late scratch with a left big toe strain) for 12 points and hitting two 3-pointers, including a pair of critical shots as the Pelicans made a run at the lead in the fourth quarter.
It was Jonathan Isaac's activity on defense with two blocks on his way to eight points to help give the Magic some spacing and needed energy.
Orlando still leaned heavily on its two star players. But the team shot 51.8 percent from the floor and 13 for 33 (39.4 percent from three). The Magic finished with 46 points in the paint and they put the foot down to lead by as much as 36 points, their largest lead of the season.
Orlando posted a 124.2 offensive rating and held New Orleans to 102.2 points per 100 possessions.
This was a playoff team taking care of a weaker team. It has been a wile since this team had an effort like that.
"I thought we played really good defense all game," Wagner said after Thursday's win. "I felt for the most part our communication was good, our effort was really good, we followed the game plan well and that helped us get a rhythm on offense."
Back to reality?
Of course, there are still all those warning signs.
The Orlando Magic let off the gas in the third quarter and let the New Orleans Pelicans cut the deficit to 20 before the end of the quarter. With their starters in to try to take care of the game quickly before Friday's back-to-back against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the New Orleans Pelicans carved it down to 15 with 7:50 to go.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit a big three-pointer to extend it back to 18 and the Magic restored order so the starters could leave the game.
In that second half, the Magic had eight of their 11 turnovers. They settled for jumpers and shot only 40.5 percent and 5 for 15 from three. They never supplemented their offense with the free throw shooting that is typical of their offense. Even Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner slowed down.
This Magic team is where they are for a reason. And while it is fair to say they acted like a team up 30 and lost some of their focus, all the issues that have buried the team were still there. The defense did more than enough and that basis is still the foundation for this team.
But Orlando needed a reminder of what it is capable of doing. Just like the team would likely benefit from being humbled at how easily they could lose it. They need that attention to detail and execution as they face tougher teams and finish this road trip.