The Orlando Magic remembered what happened the last time they went to Madison Square Garden. They remembered the statement the New York Knicks gave to a young Orlando Magic team in a blowout victory that embarrassed the young Magic squad that was light on playoff experience.
It stuck with them as they closed last season. And was with them as they returned to the Garden for this critical game.
They also knew this was an NBA Cup game. The winner of Group A was on the line and a home game in the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup. The Magic had a 30-point cushion to play with and still advance even if they lost.
More than that, the Magic needed to make a statement. They needed to signal to the rest of the league that they were a serious threat in the Eastern Conference. They needed to show they were on the same level as a team with title aspirations like the Knicks.
Like that evening in March, the Magic are leaving Madison Square Garden a little shell-shocked. They got blitzed after their hot shooting dissipated and then things got really dicy with the Knicks putting the Magic in danger of missing out on the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup.
The Magic still advanced in the NBA Cup. They will head to Milwaukee next week to face the resurgent Milwaukee Bucks in the quarterfinals with a chance to go to Las Vegas. And the final score looked a whole lot nicer than the game played at 121-106.
But make no mistake about it, the Magic trailed by as much as 37 points, the number that would have eliminated them from the NBA Cup. They got run out of the building and left asking themselves just how good they might be.
The Knicks might be the best offense the Magic have faced so far this season. But Orlando was a step slow to everything. And the Knicks were on the attack and going for the kill.
As Reggie Miller kept shouting on the broadcast, the Knicks were the ones sending a message that the new kids on the block were not ready to compete with a team with title aspirations. They were the ones putting the young pups in their place, bearing their teeth and sending the young pups scampering.
And the thing is, he was right. The Knicks did send that message. The Magic are still searching for more marquee wins and for encouraging play against elite teams. Orlando's resume and strength of record remain incredibly bare.
With this spotlight on them, Orlando did not measure up to an expected contender in the East.
"We expect teams to come out like that against us," Franz Wagner said after Tuesday's loss. "We had a good start to the season and had a good season last year. We aren't sneaking up on any team, especially against these teams at the top of the conference. These are the teams we want to compete with. We expect these types of games."
Statement opportunity missed
That is why this game felt so big. It not only had the stakes of the NBA Cup behind it, but it was a nationally televised game where the TNT broadcast went out of its way to explain how good this Orlando Magic team had been playing.
This was a chance for the Magic to make a statement of intent. And that is what feels so deflating about this loss.
Credit to Brian Anderson and Reggie Miller for making sure everyone realized Paolo Banchero was out and not returning until around Christmas.
It still did not hide what they displayed on the court. Most of the second half was spent discussing the Magic avoiding true embarrassment and failing to protect a 37-point cushion to make the quarterfinals of the much-hyped NBA Cup.
Franz Wagner showed out and continued to add to his All-Star resume with 30 points and six assists. But he seemed like the only one who could attack downhill. Moe Wagner added 20 points and Cole Anthony got to 10 points thanks to a late-game flurry, but the Magic's other key scorers went quiet.
Jalen Suggs scored 14 points on 5-for-16 shooting and missed all eight of his 3-point attempts. It is hard to win without that offensive boost. Especially against a team with this kind of firepower.
The Magic only compounded the issues with mistakes—including 16 turnovers for 32 Knicks points and a perfect 20-for-20 free throw shooting against a Knicks team that ranks 29th in free throw rate at 21.8 percent.
The Magic never gave themselves a chance to get off the mat.
"Sixteen turnovers for 32 points, that's what happened," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Tuesday's loss. "We coughed it up and gave them easy baskets. It's hard to win a game when you turn the ball over 16 times for 32 points. That's giving the game away. And they got all easy baskets in that situation."
That alone speaks to the aggression the Knicks played with. They wanted this game and they wanted to pressure and harass the Magic's offense into these mistakes. They know the Magic lack a traditional ball handler and creator. They know they can pressure the team into speeding up and playing out of character.
That is what happened as the Magic never seemed to find their rhythm offensively after a hot start that saw Franz Wagner and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope drain those first three triples.
This was a team that looked like they were deer in the headlights. They looked like they got punched in the gut and staggered and never recovered. And it was shocking because this team never looks that way.
You could see it not only as the misses piled up. But you could also see it in how the Magic passed up open looks. The mistakes compounded.
"We started off with a level of poise and patience and sharing it and moving it," Mosley said after Tuesday's win. "Then as they turned up the pressure and turned up the heat and we didn't see the ball go through a couple of times, it changed our demeanor. Overall, this was a great experience for us to have and go through to play in the Garden against an experienced basketball team."
On this big stage and with so much on the line, the Magic just did not look like themselves. All of their apparent weaknesses—the poor shooting and the lack of playmaking versatility especially—came to the front.
A lot still to learn
It looked like those games against the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder right after Paolo Banchero's injury. The team looked lost and trying to find themselves.
Perhaps winning 12 of the previous 13 games hid this fact. The Magic are still missing a big piece of themselves. Goga Bitadze being a late scratch with a sprained right ankle further threw a wrench in this team's identity.
But it should never get this bad. The Magic needed to be competitive in this big spot with a chance to showcase themselves and they again shrunk in the spotlight.
It was as Mosley put it a "stinker." It was not Orlando Magic basketball.
"I think we didn't have our usual effort and physicality on defense," Franz Wagner said after Tuesday's loss. "They got into a rhythm and we really didn't at any point in the game offensively. We have to give them credit. They made some tough looks tonight."
It is just one game. Orlando will get another shot at this. First, Wednesday night in Philadelphia against the Philadelphia 76ers. And then again next week in the NBA Cup quarterfinals on a nationally televised stage against the Milwaukee Bucks.
There is always another opportunity. The Magic have ot make sure the next one goes better.
But this one stings. For all the hype built into this game, the Magic laid an egg and left everyone asking more serious questions about them with or without Banchero. Perhaps it left everyone not taking the Magic seriously as a contender this year.
The Magic will have to wait for the next opportunity to change that narrative again.