Paolo Banchero had the ball in his hands a lot during both of the Orlando Magic's losses to the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons.
That is the responsibility that comes to a star. He is a gravitational well on offense that sucks defenders to him. He has a lot to figure out.
And so everyone is trying to figure out how the game on Sunday (and to some extent Thursday) flipped so quickly.
The Magic were aggressors getting downhill in the first half, with Banchero tallying 14 free throw attempts. In the second half, he could not break through a wall of defenders determined to get the ball out of his hands.
Banchero committed nine turnovers and the Magic stalled in the second half, scoring only 35 points, giving up two killer runs -- an 11-0 spurt that gave the Pistons their first lead and a 14-2 spurt in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
The Magic were looking for answers and trying to put their finger on what went wrong.
"Just being more organized. Being able to communicate with each other what we're trying to do," Paolo Banchero said after Sunday's game. "Teams a lot of times adjust at halftime, and I think that's why we've struggled a lot in the second half. We don't really adjust to their adjustments. We need to see how they are playing us and clearly communicate to each other what we need to do, particularly offensively to fight those runs and continue to play good basketball."
This comment set a lot of fans off.
There have been whispers about Banchero's frustrations with the offense throughout the year -- so much so that he publicly denied them in January when an ESPN reporter gave voice to them.
These comments are a bit of a Rorschach Test. Fans will see what they want to see in them.
Differing explanations
For those eager to see the Orlando Magic move on from Jamahl Mosley in the offseason, it was proof that Mosley is not up to the challenge and is struggling to make adjustments in-game.
His explanation centered on the Detroit Pistons playing harder and ramping up their intensity, playing a little more physical and putting the Magic on their back foot. He said the Magic's decisions became slower, allowing the Pistons to load up and wall the paint when the Magic tried to get downhill.
The more likely explanation is that the Magic's players failed to adjust and read the moment in the game. They struggled to stick to the game plan, and other players around Paolo Banchero failed to step up when the Pistons got the ball out of his hands.
Orlando missed plenty of open shots and opportunities to relieve that pressure. And against a good team like the Pistons, they are going to make a team pay for failing to make shots.
"They had really good intention starting out, especially at the start of the third quarter when they went on their run," Suggs said after practice on Monday. "In the third quarter, they definitely changed the pace of the game, and they were in control, and we were reacting. As much as you can dictate what is going on offensively and defensively, you'll be in control of the game, and that will lead to good things. I thought they did a better job of that in the third quarter."
But it was the second straight game that several players noted the team went away from what built their lead. It was the second straight game when an opposing team played with more intention.
And it is fair to ask nearly 60 games into the season why the Magic have not cemented an identity and a thing they can trust.
That is the responsibility of both the players and the coaching staff. Everyone has earned blame for the team's shortcomings.
The bigger issue
While these comments and questions will surely net some salacious headlines (it does not take long to find them on social media), it does hint at a bigger problem the Orlando Magic are facing.
While the Magic have become a perennial Playoff team, even in seasons everyone recognizes do not live up to even moderate expectations, the Magic have yet to establish that they can beat the top teams in the league consistently.
Orlando is 4-8 against the top four teams in the Eastern Conference, with wins over each of the top three teams, and 0-5 against the top four teams in the Western Conference.
The Orlando Magic are only 13-21 against teams with records above .500, tied with the Miami Heat for the fewest such wins among Eastern Conference postseason teams. Injuries can explain some of that, but it continues a pattern from the last two years.
In 2025, the Magic were 12-25 against teams with records above .500, the fewest such wins among Eastern Conference postseason teams. In 2024, the Orlando Magic were 19-28, only besting the Chicago Bulls' 18 wins.
The Magic now have three years of consistently feasting on teams with records worse than .500 but struggling to beat the best teams in the league.
And that should be more of the takeaway from these past two losses. Orlando has the talent and ability to compete with these teams, but the team has not put together the consistency to win these big games.
It is one area where the team's try-hard attitude runs into a road block.
"I wouldn't necessarily say they were playing harder than us," Wendell Carter said after practice Monday about the loss to the Pistons. "I think they changed a couple of things systematically. At the end of the day, that can never be a topic that anyone can say the other team was playing harder than us. We can't allow that to even be a thing. We can't give up as many offensive rebounds as we did, we can't turn the ball over as much as we did. The game would be a lot different if we didn't do those two things."
This team has not been able to elevate their play against the league's best.
Regardless of the reason the Magic lost these last two games, they were opportunities to take major wins and build on a strong run of recent play. And they are opportunities the Magic have consistently struggled with.
That is the adjustment that is left on the board. These are the teams, after all, the Magic will need to beat consistently to advance out of the first round and one day win a championship.