LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- The Orlando Magic will fight. Everyone could see that at least.
A lackadaisical and poor first half put them down by 10 midway through the third quarter to the New York Knicks in the NBA Cup semifinal, when they suddenly seemed to find their spark to retake the lead.
The ball moved down the court quickly. They attacked the basket with speed and force. Their defense bothered and harassed the Knicks into contested shots and misses. This is Magic basketball.
And just as quickly as the Magic found their spark and found their rhythm, it was gone.
The Knicks answered the Magic's 16-4 run with a 12-3 run of their own. Big shots the Magic needed would not fall and the Knicks got three big baskets from Jalen Brunson.
In an instant, Orlando lost grip of a game the team never really had Saturday afternoon. The Magic's NBA Cup run ended with a 132-120 defeat.
Orlando wanted to go into this elimination game to feel the pressure of a major moment and a major game. They exited learning there is indeed a different level to games like these. One the Magic are not quite ready to meet.
But a lesson the team needed.
"I think it's huge," Desmond Bane said after Saturday's game. "We need these moments, and we need these games where we are playing in meaningful games and have to go through some adversity. I think it will help prepare us for our next challenges."
The Magic will not get another look at a game like this until they get to the Playoffs in the spring. Perhaps the experience will benefit them. Perhaps they still need the ramp-up time to play major games like this.
But the Magic fell short on the stage. They looked like they could not make the jump quite yet.
Finding their grove and base
It is unfair to reduce a game to two players. But this is basketball, and star players have an outsized role in the outcome. And there was no bigger difference between the two teams than the way Jalen Brunson played and the way Paolo Banchero struggled.
Brunson finished with 40 points, including 25 in the first half, to lead the Knicks in the victory. The Magic struggled to keep him from getting to his spots and disrupting any kind of rhythm -- save for a short stretch in the third quarter.
It was easy to see how Brunson could elevate his play and take his game to the next level. He has been in pressure-packed games before and looked unphased by anything the Magic threw at him.
That is the experience the Magic are missing and are trying to gain. That is what years of going through the playoffs can give you -- confidence to weather the storm and to elevate your play as the rest of the team figures out its way.
Orlando could not find the player or the thing to rely on.
"I think this was a great experience for our team to recognize what we need to do in these moments," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Saturday's game. "Defensively, being able to stick to our gameplan and defend the right way and allowing that to dictate our offense. I think it's a great opportunity for our guys to look back at this and learn how we need to play consistently."
Paolo Banchero is still working his way back from injury. But he found his groove too late, scoring nine of his 25 points in the fourth quarter when the Magic were facing too steep an uphill climb.
Orlando instead had to lean on Jalen Suggs to carry them through the game.
Suggs had 25 of his 26 points in the first half before injuries overtook him. A hip injury knocked him out of the game at last in the fourth quarter. He was slow-moving in the locker room after the game as he declined to answer any questions about his injury.
The Magic were struggling to find that consistent defense breaker to relieve tension and pressure. That is something that the Knicks could find in Karl-Anthony Towns (17 of 29 points in the second half) and OG Anunoby (24 points).
"I think they were too comfortable," Desmond Bane said after Saturday's game. "We had a stretch in the third quarter where I felt like we picked up our defensive intensity and were able to get into the ball and make it uncomfortable for them. But most of the night, just about everyone on the team was getting to the spots they wanted to get to with little resistance from us."
Orlando never got its defense right. The team never played its style of basketball or the way the team typically plays. The Knicks posted a 125.7 offensive rating and shot 60.7 percent for the game. The Magic never could gain a grip on the game.
Orlando was essentially playing catch-up the whole game. And that is something that cannot happen in a big game.
Growing and building
The point of this NBA Cup experience was always going to be to gain this kind of a lesson. It was to put the team under some winning pressure and see how they would respond. They wanted to gain the playoff and big-game experience they are missing.
This is the space to fail under the spotlight. It should make the Magic better for the moments that matter in the spring.
The Magic did not put their best foot forward in Saturday's game. They failed to find that extra gear they will need in the spring. Perhaps this will give them the confidence to find it.
For Saturday, it was only disappointment.
"We can be so much better in a lot of areas," Paolo Banchero said after Saturday's game. "We're not perfect. We've got a lot to work on. But I think we're proud as a group getting to this stage. Would have liked to win the game and play a little better. Definitely just a good learning experience."
The team the Magic will be in March and April will be different from the one that played Saturday night in Las Vegas. They will have Franz Wagner back and a more in-rhythm Paolo Banchero. They will have a season's worth of playing together.
Orlando should be more prepared to head to this stage again later in the season. And the Magic expect that this will not be their last time with the spotlight on them.
This opportunity passed them by. There is still more work to do.