The Orlando Magic's season was supposed to be about how the team would rise above their offense. It was supposed to be about turning their defense into something that could elevate the team into the four-seed and a better playoff standing.
The Magic know their identity and know what makes them good. They have been fighting to overcome their weaknesses and find their offensive rhythm.
They still want to be more. They hope to be more.
They still find themselves being held back. It is often their own little mistakes and frustrations that add up in defeat. Things they should be able to overcome and things they continually fall short on.
Friday night, the Magic lost a 19-point lead in the third quarter after being tied at halftime. They lost a nine-point lead with 4:38 to go. They gave up an 11-1 run, going without a field goal for those final 4.5 minutes watching Ja Morant score nine points to put the Grizzlies back in the game, giving away the lead on a Franz Wagner turnover and Desmond Bane free throw.
They saw Franz Wagner pass up a wide-open three to miss a contested three with 20.7 seconds left only for Cole Anthony's offensive rebound to find Paolo Banchero for a hurried three with 15.0 seconds left.
Then after two misses from Santi Aldama, the Magic failed to call a planned timeout with 10.7 seconds left, forcing Paolo Banchero to take the ball up the court and force a difficult shot over three defenders. Jaren Jackson Jr. blocked it to secure the 105-104 win.
The Magic have found their grit and determination on defense again. They look more like the team that dragged teams into the deep water and choked them out in December. But they still struggle to rise above. They still struggle to finish.
They still cannot clear that important hurdle. It starts with the simple execution and communication that cost them this game.
"I think everybody on the court has to not only be worried about their own game but what's going on the floor and what we're trying to do as a team," Wagner said after Friday's loss. "We've got to communicate. I think the coaches have to communicate and help us with that. On that last play, everybody knew what we wanted to do. That's not on one person. That's on everybody on the court and everyone on the bench."
The missed timeout, clutch frustrations
Fans have pointed to that timeout miscue, which stung the team. It is indeed emblematic of the Magic's offensive shortcomings, disorganization and lack of trust.
Coach Jamahl Mosley put the blame squarely on his shoulders for that miscue. He subbed in Goga Bitadze in the game to ensure they got the rebound and the timeout. Several players were calling for a timeout but when they did not get it, Banchero had to go and try to make something happen.
It was a dreadful miscommunication, and it should not have happened with a team that has largely played together for three years and a coach in his fourth year with the team. It felt like a back-to-the-beginning moment.
Mosley always mentions that it is never just the last shot or those last plays that cost a team. It is all the little things throughout the game where the Magic did not put them away.
The Magic left opportunities on the board to get the win whether it was missing 10 free throws or giving up 15 offensive rebounds (albeit for just 12 second-chance points). Those little things ultimately matter.
"We've got to take this opportunity and we've got to improve on it," Cole Anthony said after Friday's loss. "We have 24 games left this season for us in the regular season, we've got to tighten up. We can't be giving away games like that. We're primed and prepped to win and then we just start laying an egg and just having these mental lapses. We're better than what we showed in the remainder of that game."
But this is not the first time the Magic have had a moment like this. It is not the first time they faltered down the stretch. Orlando has a woeful 102.1 offensive rating in clutch situations. They have tried to focus more on their late-game execution.
While clutch moments may not be more important than any other in the game, they are when the pressure is at its highest. They are when teams have to focus more.
Whether it was this loss or a loss like the double-overtime loss against the Miami Heat at the end of January, the Orlando Magic still do not seem to trust their offense.
Their defense will more likely than not give them a chance to win. Despite some fouling and several bad turnovers, the defense held tough and like that loss to the Heat, the Grizzlies got some great shot-making from Ja Morant to close it out.
Orlando can get good looks. But the team cannot get over the hump. These are the things that hold them back.
"I honestly think we got a lot of good looks down the stretch," Mosley said after Friday's game. "They didn't go in. Where they went in last night and it looks a little bit different because you come away with the win. we'll continue to work on our end-of-game execution to make sure we are getting the right looks at the right time and they are clean and we continue to step in with confidence and we're knocking them down."
Orlando executed plenty well down the stretch to beat Atlanta on Thursday, making back-to-back threes to break a late 103-103 tie. But even in that game, the Magic gave away a fourth quarter lead to get into a tie game that required that kind of playmaking.
The shots fell Thursday and did not fall Friday.
Turning a corner?
The Orlando Magic do feel like they are turning a corner though.
The defense has returned to its gritty ways, holding a strong Memphis offense to 105 points and 41.3 percent shooting. The Grizzlies scored only nine fast-break points and made only 7 of 33 threes—three of them coming back-to-back-to-back as part of a run in the third quarter to erase a 19-point deficit.
Orlando is starting to find its defensive swagger again. But the team is still struggling to get over the hump. That has been the story of the season.
"We're not going to be perfect, but for the most part we played a pretty good game," Wagner said after Friday's loss. "We've got to continue to build on that. It's going to turn for us if we keep doing that. In a one-point game, some luck is involved in these games always too. I think you have to earn that luck in these games. If we keep our focus and keep worrying about the right stuff, our luck is going to turn our way too."
The Magic are seeing things begin to turn their way with three straight games giving up a defensive rating better than 110 points per 100 possessions.
But it is still not good enough. Not good enough to break a frustrating season or help the team climb in the standing. The Magic are still giving away the little things that cost them games.
That is ultimately what matters to this team. And it is what they have to overcome.