The Orlando Magic have not looked like themselves for the last several weeks.
The team has given up loads of points defensively, struggled on the glass on both ends and turned the ball over in bunches. They were getting outworked and out paced losing on fast breaks.
All the gains the team had tried to make this season along with the foundation the team had built were on shaky ground as the Magic began to tread water with players coming in and out of the lineup due to injury.
The team had lost a part of itself, whether it was the joy that Paolo Banchero described after Monday's loss to the Toronto Raptors, the spirit from not having its heartbeat in Jalen Suggs in the lineup or its edge.
For the Magic to pull itself out of this malaise, they would have to rediscover themselves bit by bit.
The Magic are still imperfect. They are still fighting through whatever has plagued them this month. They will take a brief moment of joy, believing it will lead to the next one.
Maybe relief is the better word.
In a tie game with the seconds ticking away, the Magic's first two options got bottled up. Anthony Black was able to squeeze the ball to Paolo Banchero with Aaron Nesmith on him.
He quickly turned to attack with him on his back and got to the rim to finish with a layup and a foul. The Magic had the lead. Even though Banchero missed, the Indiana Pacers missed the three from Nesmith, allowing the Magic to exhale and take a 112-110 win.
Orlando could feel some measure of joy again thanks to a 29-point effort from Banchero. They could count on their resilient nature after trailing for much of the second half and needing to rally in the fourth quarter for the win.
They could relax and smile once again. They could feel like themselves.
"It's just a great feeling to get the win," Paolo Banchero said after Wednesday's win. "Tough game, they weren't going away. We had to battle it out and play to the final buzzer."
As the Magic closed their 2025 calendar year, they are searching for themselves again. December was rough. Their final game in December was rough.
They are hoping that a win and some relief can launch them into better days.
A rough December on display
The Orlando Magic entered the season -- and still have -- with weighty expectations. They expected to win a playoff series and compete at the top of the conference and even the league.
Orando has shown plenty of hints through the first half of the season to suggest this team is on the cusp of contention, perhaps only in need of some good injury luck and some experience and seasoning.
But their December showed they still have a lot of work to do.
Orlando finished 7-7 in the month with a -3.4 net rating, ranking them in the bottom 10 of the league. The Magic had a woeful 110.6 offensive rating despite making gains earlier in the year.
More disappointingly, many of the team's core identities seemed to fall by the wayside.
The Magic had a 114.0 defensive rating that only got worse as the team suffered injuries to Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs, with Paolo Banchero still working his way back from a strained groin. Orlando went from one of the best rebounding teams in the league to one of the worst over the last few weeks.
If there is a reason it seems the Magic have lost some of their joy, it is because they are struggling with several things that are seemingly basic to their identity.
The Orlando Magic were still having those issues against the Indiana Pacers.
Orlando struggled to contain Indiana from three, giving up 12-for-35 shooting from deep, including 5-for-10 shooting in the first quarter. The Magic managed to make only three of their 21 attempts from deep, creating an uphill climb.
Worse still, the Magic fouled a lot. Allowing the Pacers to get to the line for 32 attempts.
Turnovers too fed the Pacers' offense with the Magic committing 19 for 15 points. They had the effect more of derailing the Magic's offensive rhythm rather than necessarily feeding the Pacers' offense.
The team lacked the precision and focus you would expect from a team with title aspirations. The team is falling well short of its standard.
It was all the Magic keeping the door open. It could have ben a moment to give in to frustration -- as the team appeared to do with three technical fouls in the third quarter.
Joy in Resilience
The Orlando Magic stuck to one of their other key traits then. They remained resilient. They did not let that affect their play. They rolled with the punches and fought back.
If there was a sign that the Magic are fighting their way out of this malaise, despite all the frustration of the last few weeks, it is that the Magic keep fighting.
This time, they found a way out.
"It's a big lesson for our guys to battle through different versions of adversity," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Wednesday's win. "We have to be better. But the resiliency and the poise down the stretch was much better."
No player exemplified this more than Paolo Banchero. After his quiet fourth quarter Monday in Toronto -- and all of his struggles this year -- Banchero had eight points on 4-for-8 shooting in the fourth quarter to push the Magic past the finish line.
For the first time, you could see this steely determination. And while Banchero still made mistakes -- two of his five turnovers came in the fourth quarter -- he hit several big shots, including a jumper, to secure the win as offense dried up for both teams.
"Just going out there trying to be aggressive and hunt shots," Banchero said after Wednesday's win. "Just play the game the right way. That's just the biggest thing. I'm going to continue to do that every night."
Orlando is not all the way back just because of a big shot or a nice performance. The team still needs to build on things and improve.
The Magic needed to end 2025 working on themselves and finding their joy. That is how they will make 2026 a successful one.