The Orlando Magic led by only six points midway through the fourth quarter. Physical play and frustration had left them in a bit of a lull. Trae Young was simmering. And their postseason future seemed in jeopardy.
Everything was on the line. Despite the Magic's lead, the outcome was uncertain.
This is the test of the postseason and big games like this one. These are the tests a team has to pass to win games of consequence.
This Magic team proved they could win these games last year. But as they said constantly as they struggled through this season, this is not last year. They had to prove it all over again, prove who they are and who they could be, and do it under the greatest pressure.
It did not matter. The Magic have always known what kind of team they can be. They have always known what they were capable of. They were always hungry for games exactly like this one. This is what they have been building toward all season.
This is the challenge they always wanted.
Every piece of their identity delivered a critical 119-112 win over the Atlanta Hawks, bringing the Orlando Magic to the doorstep of the 7-seed and the Southeast Division title.
Orlando passed this test with flying colors.
"That's what it's going to take to win these type of games is to put teams away with our defense and getting stops," Paolo Banchero said after Tuesday's win. "They didn't go away but we made enough plays to get the dub tonight."
The clinching run started after the Hawks cut the lead to six on an alley-oop to Onyeka Okongwu with 4:54 to play. Paolo Banchero answered with a layup to restore calm to the offense.
Wendell Carter then blocked an alley-oop attempt to Onyeka Okongwu. Okongwu picked up a technical to give the Magic a nine-point lead.
Banchero then got to the baseline and hit a short jumper. Cory Joseph hit a layup to expand the lead to 11. A few possessions later, Banchero found Carter for an alley-oop dunk and a 13-point lead. Then Joseph hit a three after the Magic collected two offensive rebounds.
That opened a 14-point lead with 2:06 to play and essentially put the game away.
Orlando faced a lull, buckled down on defense and delivered the killing blow. A blow that may just set themselves up for their best chance in the postseason.
"We talk about it a lot," Kentavious Caldwell-Pope said after Tuesday's win. "Our best attribute is defending. We do it at a high level. I think the main mindset for us is that each game we're going to defend first. The offense is going to come. We know we are going to get out and transition. We know we're going to have Paolo and Franz creating for us. If we can defend, get stops, make it easier to get easy baskets in transition. That goes a long way for us to keep a rhythm on the offensive end."
Following the formula
The Orlando Magic have always known what their formula to win is.
The defense has been steady for much of the season but has found its groove as the season has concluded.
Orlando gave up 45.5 percent shooting and 34.1 percent from three. A 115.5 defensive rating is well above the Magic's season average, but Orlando made key stops when it mattered.
They forced 18 turnovers for 20 points. The Magic recorded 13 steals and six blocks -- six steals and three blocks from a super-active Wendell Carter.
The only thing anyone could complain about defensively from the Magic was giving up 14 offensive rebounds for 31 second-chance points.
What changed in this game was that the offense gave the team ample support.
Paolo Banchero had 33 points and 10 rebounds on 12-for-24 shooting. Franz Wagner had 22. Wendell Carter chipped in 17, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 15, making three of his six 3-pointers.
Orlando as a team made 41.2 percent of its threes, matching Atlanta's total of 14 threes. The Magic grabbed 13 offensive rebounds for 20 second-chance points of their own.
The Hawks could not stop the Magic enough to pull back in. Orlando held onto its lead once the team gained separation with a 10-0 run late in the second quarter.
The Magic were far from perfect. But they never wavered from their identity and they stuck with the gameplan throughout.
"Just being able to focus on that moment and that moment alone," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Tuesday's win. "Not what happened prior to it, how they got it, but being able to settle ourselves down, get the stops, try to get some of the looks that we wanted. But ehn again, it got back to getting the stops at the right time to be able to get ou and run with that level of focus. We have to keep that moving forward."
This is the kind of game and the kind of win the Magic have been working toward. This is the kind of result they knew they were always capable of. When the Magic spoke about trying to play their best basketball at the end of the season, this is what it looked like.
Orlando has known all year this formula works when executed well. The Magic always believed they were never far from the team they wanted to be.
The Magic will not reach their preseason expectations. Seventh is the highest they can climb. But they can still find a way to be a better version of themselves, something closer to who they thought they could be.
Identity and all of that are tested under the crucible of these kinds of tests. A must-win game with so much on the line. This is when a team's whole being is tested.
Orlando passed this test. This first test in the final week of the season. The Magic maintained control and maintained their place atop the division.
They entered the week controlling their postseason destiny. They kept that control when it was on the line.
"This was a big win, but each game that's left for us is going to be a big game for us to continue to move in the right direction," Kentavious Caldwell-Pope said after Tuesday's win. "But tonight, we came up with the intensity that it's a playoff game for us and we wanted to treat it as such. I think we did a great job of just coming out with great energy, defending and scoring the ball well."
Of course, the job is not done yet. There is still a playoff series ahead. They must still win one more game to assure they host the 7/8 Play-In game next week.
The team knows there will be many more tests to come—and still much to improve.
But the playoffs are about winning the game in front of you. It is about doing what you must in the game ahead and finding a way to win.
This was a playoff-type game—everyone on both sides acknowledged the gravity of this one. There will be bigger games ahead with higher stakes.
For now, the Magic are no longer thinking theoretically that they can pass that test. With everything on the line, they stayed the course, found their identity and won.