Orlando Magic's biggest weaknesses could still prevent their breakthrough

The Orlando Magic made their run.

They trailed by 29 points early in the third quarter and suddenly started to come alive. Jalen Suggs was draining threes. Franz Wagner hit a few too. And suddenly a struggling Magic team had some life and some energy. They were cutting into that lead and their defense was coming alive to play the way they need to play.

In all, Orlando went on a 21-0 run to cut the deficit down to eight points. They seemed to have momentum on their side as Anthony Black hit two free throws after getting whacked in the head for a flagrant foul trying to corral the rebound from a Jalen Suggs block.

This is how the Magic want to play, moving the ball to get open shots and shooting confidently and defending with intensity and physicality. Everything was working in unison.

The Magic had a chance to continue building that momentum. But then the errors and mistakes that let them fall into a deep hole showed up. And then the shooting dried up.

Quite simply, as Jamahl Mosley put it after Saturday's 124-111 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, his Orlando Magic team got its butts kicked. Why would the Magic be in a 29-point hole to begin with? Not with what this team can potentially do and did with a 19-0 run.

The simple answer is the turnovers. On the possession that followed the Magic cutting the deficit to eight, Franz Wagner got called for an illegal screen. Another turnover followed on the next possession and the Grizzlies took that eight-point lead and expanded it to 13 just like that.

The Magic could not get away with playing only a quarter and a half of clean basketball. They needed more. They had put themselves in too deep a hole to begin with.

"Nineteen turnovers for 30 points, you're not giving yourself a chance," Mosley said after Saturday's game. "Just give Memphis credit, they kicked our butts. They came in and pushed the pace the entire time. We just have to find a way to bounce back Monday."

Down by so much and fighting so hard to get back, the margin for error was too small for those kinds of mistakes. And they were the big reason the Magic found themselves in a hole they could not dig their way out of even with their vaunted defense.

Turnovers are the Magic's biggest lingering weakness

Turnovers have been a point of concern throughout the offseason and into the preseason.

The Orlando Magic were 26th in the league last year in turnover rate at 15.0 percent. It was something that could put their elite defense on the back heels.

That has not been a major point of concern in the first two games of the season. But it is why they lost to the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday.

Orlando committed 19 turnovers for 30 Memphis points on Saturday. The Grizzlies scored 24 fast-break points on top of that. The Magic had seven turnovers each in the first two quarters for 21 points off turnovers in the first half.

That is why the Magic found themselves in a hole. They made mistakes that cost them possessions and often fed an energetic and hungry Grizzlies team to attack.

"They were playing fast to begin with," Jalen Suggs said after Saturday's loss. "Turning the ball over doesn't help because now we're not getting back, we're mismatched and cross-matched and they are taking advantage. Great learning moment for us and a growth moment for us coming off the first back-to-back of the year. These are always tough because you want to come out and give your best but you have to travel and fly. To continue to learn from it how can we get better on these nights and continue to be crisper and focus on our process more than what's happening."

It is not merely the turnovers costing the Magic chances to score and find their offense, as improved as it might be. It is also that transition opportunities catch the Magic at their most stretched. It was an area the Miami Heat were able to exploit in Wednesday's game.

Their turnovers were a big factor in letting the Brooklyn Nets hang around throughout Friday's game. The Magic have to continue to show maturity in dealing with these miscues.

If teams want to try to deal with the Magic's size and defensive length, they are quickly finding out the best way is to make sure they do not get set. Attack them in transition and you do not have to deal with the Magic's preferred matchups and spacing.

The Grizzlies did that to devastating effect, becoming the first team to exploit this potential weakness. Suggs said the Grizzlies were faster and more aggressive, catching the Magic a bit off guard. For whatever reason, the team was a step slow with its reads and its communication.

That is something the Magic have to continue to improve. Undeniably, Orlando's focus has to be on itself first to correct these mistakes and miscues.

Indeed, one of the few areas the Magic have struggled is in giving up points off turnovers. Thirty of their 64 points off turnovers so far this season came in Saturday's game. But even 17.0 points off turnovers per game would rank the team just 12th in the league.

It is hard to find a defensive category or stat where the Magic are not elite. Their transition defense is surely one of those.

And those were games Orlando mostly limited its turnovers.

This was a constant reminder. It remains perhaps the Magic's biggest weakness and the biggest sign of their immaturity.

Orlando Magic are still setting their standard

It was, of course, not the only reason the Orlando Magic lost to the Memphis Grizzlies.

They could have survived their turnovers better if they played with more intensity and physicality on defense. The early turnovers put them on the back foot and early fouls had them backing off. But except for the 21-0 run, Orlando did not look like the team that had been so dominant on defense in the first two games.

The team has let shooting cover up some of the other apparent weaknesses essential to their success.

The Magic have not been as strong at attacking the paint this season either. Orlando scored only 34 points in the paint, giving up an uncharacteristically high 62 points in the paint largely because of those transition opportunities.

That lack of aggression may be a trade-off to the team's increase in 3-point attempts. But it often felt like the Magic settled for threes. They made 17 of 48 (35.4 percent), which remains a positive step forward for the Magic. But Orlando's offense rose and fell with the 3-point shooting—the team made only 3 of 19 in the first half.

It is never just one thing. Especially when the deficit was so great and the Magic had to scramble back into the game. But the Magic also saw how they can fight back and stay in games like this one.

"I think we got stops to get out and run," Mosley said of the team's 19-0 run. "That's a big portion of how we need and know how to play. We don't allow shot-making or missing to impact your defense. It's a great group. They understand exactly what was the case was tonight. Turnovers, energy, effort. Those categories. Allowing the shot-making to impact the defensive side of the floor."

What Saturday's loss ultimately should be is a reminder that this team is still a work in progress. The team is still finding itself.

While the Magic appear to have improved in some significant ways, this weakness remains. It is something the Magic have to guard against.

Orlando still has work to do to become the team they want to become and they still have to put this concern to rest.