The Orlando Magic have suffered some heartbreaking defeats in the last week. Their last three games were decided by two or fewer points, the first such losing streak in Magic history. It felt like nothing could go right.
Answer the bell after a bad loss? Stephen Curry scores 56 on them. Get a wide-open layup to force overtime? Your star player misses it. Have a heroic fourth-quarter effort from your star? A rookie hits a contested three for the win. Get a putback dunk to force overtime? It is after the buzzer.
The Magic were searching for answers on their five-game losing streak and finding none. They needed something to go right.
No one will accuse the Magic of being fixed or back on track after Saturday's win. The final 30 seconds of their game nearly undid an entire game's worth of work to get back on track. A made contested three from Damian Lillard is all that separates the Magic from relief and pain. Just as all those other events could have changed the team's present outlook.
Right now, the Magic will take wins however they come. Pretty, ugly, lucky, unlucky, blowout or close. Wins are all that matter at this point in the season.
As Damian Lillard's 3-pointer for the win bounced off no good and fell to Anthony Black on the rebound, we could pick all the positive and glowing stories to write rather than the negative, frustrating ones. The Magic had their win 111-109 at Fiserv Forum, their first in Milwaukee since 2019.
For now, the pressure is relieved. The five-game losing streak is over.
"We've been hungry for a win," Cole Anthony said after Saturday's win. "It's definitely a good sign for us being able to execute at the end of the game. Truth be told, it probably got a little closer than it should have. All this stuff is pretty easily fixable."
The Magic's struggle during this five-game losing streak was to get that last little bit over the hump.
Fighting compounding mistakes
What the Orlando Magic really struggled with the most was keeping its poise when it faced runs against their lead. The lulls the team would face offensively would compound. Mistakes—turnovers, poor shot selections and missed shots—would lead to defensive lapses. The team would lose its identity and thus lose the game.
It never felt like the Magic were completely out of the woods. It would be one heavy punch that would stagger them too much.
That is not the core of the team's identity. It may still take more time for this team to get right. But they needed one of these plays to go their way.
So when the Bucks made a push early in the second quarter or Damian Lillard hit three 3-pointers in the third quarter, the Magic answered to keep the lead above nine points. When they cut the deficit to two after three threes from Taurean Prince as part of a 13-0 run, Paolo Banchero stepped in to score five of his seven points on a three and a step-back jumper over Giannis Antetokounmpo to extend it back to seven.
Orlando felt like it had put the game away with that spurt. The Magic showed the poise they were missing at home. They answered every time.
"It says that we showed some resiliency," Paolo Banchero said after Saturday's win. "We just kept saying get one so we can build some momentum and get this thing rolling. Happy that we got this first one on the road. We have to come out with the same togetherness and same mindset and we should be fine."
Of course, things are never easy. The basketball gods and the Magic's demons were not going to let them skate off so easily. The Bucks had one more run in them.
The Magic looked like they were clear for the win when they went up five with 30 seconds to play. That came after Kentavious Caldwell-Pope blocked a Damian Lillard layup off the All-Star guard.
The Magic came out of the timeout with some gorgeous ball movement that started with a Paolo Banchero drive and kick out to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and ended with a Cole Anthony drive to Wendell Carter for a dunk and a five-point lead.
WENDELL💥@wendellcarter34 pic.twitter.com/46yv26pukr
— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) March 9, 2025
But Giannis Antetokounmpo got an and-1 dunk when Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was late helping and fouled to reduce the deficit to two. Then with a timeout in their pocket, the Magic opted not to reset and Cole Anthony drove into a trap and turned it over.
That gave Lillard the chance to win the game. A make-or-miss shot that would have changed the team's outlook. That is how narrow the margins are.
The feeling of winning
The Orlando Magic still have a lot to clean up from its offensive execution to its turnovers to its rebounding to its transition defense and fouling. The Magic are not who they once were.
But they have stayed in the fight throughout the season so far. After getting staggered, they are trying to get themselves back up.
The feeling of winning goes a long way to restoring the team to the right place.
"Gritty, team together, completely by committee. Everybody stepped into their role, trusted each other, played with energy, defended the right way, shared the basketball," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Saturday's win. "I thought these guys did a termendous job trusting each other and playing with an unbelievalbe spirit."
It was easy to see the Magic were dialed in from the start of this one. They were attentive defensively and the ball moved around the perimeter quickly.
Orlando came out of the gates on fire, making 8 of 13 threes (they finished 12 of 32). But that initial spurt staked the Magic a 14-point lead after the first quarter. They nursed the lead throughout the game.
This is where the Magic had to show their grit and determination. They had to put their foot down to end the losing streak.
The Magic still realize they are not far from the worst version of themselves. What should have been an easy five-point lead with 26 seconds to protect became a roller coaster. They survived as much as they won.
But they have also understood they are not as far from the better version of themselves through all of these struggles. There is not much time remaining this season, but there is plenty of time still to make something of the season.
"We've dealt with a lot this year. Everybody knows that," Paolo Banchero said after Saturday's win. "After this All-Star break, we wanted to come out and give ourselves a chance to be in the postseason. It doesn't really matter what seed. We just want to be in there. Regardless of us dropping those games at home, we know that we're still in the running for the postseason.
"There's a lot of basketball to be played with this season. You can't let a tough five-game stretch define the rest of the season."
They have that winning feeling again. They will take them any way they can.
And perhaps getting one win and a fortunate bounce is enough to put the Magic back on solid ground and playing confidently.