A loud voice was missing from the Orlando Magic's game on Saturday against the Golden State Warriors.
For the first time since arriving in Orlando, Desmond Bane did not play. He was sick and stayed in the hotel as the Magic took on the Warriors. He watched from his room as he tried to regain some energy.
He said teammates joked at Monday's practice that they could not believe how long they had been without him as he rejoined the team. It was just one game. Bane has been that constant of a presence.
Bane was moving around and trying to get back onto the court. He was not on Monday's injury report and appears set to return Tuesday against the Sacramento Kings.
At the very least, the levity showed that spirits are high despite a 2-7 start where the team has struggled to find its footing and establish its identity. There is still belief within the team.
Saturday's overtime loss felt like a step in the right direction. Bane could see that while watching from the sidelines.
"What's being asked of us is something we are capable of," Bane said after practice Monday. "One of the things that I like about it was the first half wasn't going our way, but we chose not to lay down and came out in the third quarter and really responded. We had a chance to win a game on the road. It didn't go our way. I was proud of the way we fought and some of the things we were able to do on the glass."
There is still a lot for the team to put together. The team still has to improve in many areas. They still need to get results from these games.
Orlando should not be in the moral victory business. They need to turn that strong play, even in defeat, into results and not let it be an aberration. But staying with it in this way is a positive sign. If they can figure it out, they have all the characteristics they need to continue that success.
The Magic know they are facing some adversity to start the season. They also know there is a lot of time remaining to get things right.
How they ultimately respond to this adversity and how they put those pieces together will now define their season.
Putting the pieces together
Saturday's overtime loss went against a lot of the trends that have had the Orlando Magic struggling.
They won the possession game, both protecting the ball and forcing turnovers against a sloppy Golden State Warriors team. They dominated the glass, getting 31 more field goals in part because of 33 second-chance points.
It was something the team could build on. It was at least a small sign that the team is still bought in and working to put the pieces together they have struggled in the first three weeks of the season.
Orlando is looking for any solid footing they can find to get out of this funk.
They can certainly blame the injuries to Paolo Banchero and Jalen Suggs for putting them behind the 8-ball. They are still learning their coach's new system.
It has led to this slow start. The Magic have looked frustrated at times and have looked like they are still figuring out their new system.
Orlando has stayed competitive for the most part, despite their struggles. There is still buy-in to the new coach, even if the team is still seeking to make it seoncd nature.
This is not the start the Magic waned to see, of course. They had grand ambitions for the season. And so their response to this slow start is a defining point to the season.
"Any time there is an adverse situation, we want to play to our identity," coach Sean Sweeney said after practice Monday. "I think you always want to anchor back to who you are and what you want to be. In this situation, or any situation where you have something that is not ideal, let's get back to who we are and how we want to do things."
This team knows how it is supposed to play. They have not played that way yet. The team has not found its identity yet.
So far, the team has been wildly inconsistent.
Even with Saturday's encouraging game, the Magic sit 24th in offensive rating at 107.6 points per 100 possessions and 25th in defensive rating at 116.1 points allowed per 100 possessions. The Magic have not quite found their thing yet.
They have been mired in turnovers (27th in the league with a 17.9 percent turnover rate) and poor rebounding (20th with a 67.7 percent defensive rebound rate).
It has been hard for the team to establish its footing. It has put the team behind and needing to make up ground early in the season.
It has left the team searching for its identity.
The early chase
The test is: How do the Orlando Magic respond to this adversity? How do they respond to needing to make up ground?
That question will now define the Magic's season.
They cannot go back and make up for the last three weeks of the season. They are 2-7. They cannot make up that ground again. They are chasing in the early part of the season.
Orlando will need to fight its way to its identity and fight its way up the standings.
There is time to do so.
"I think it's huge," Desmond Bane said after practice Monday. "We've got many more months left of this thing and a lot of room and a lot of time to improve, and we will."
Bane said the team needs to carry over what it did Saturday and play with force, share the ball, play with patience and get into the paint to make the moral victory stick and lead to results.
Orlando is not alone in its struggles. The team is not out of the race at all.
The Orlando Magic, at 2-7, are tied in the loss column with the Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards for ninth and 10th in the East. They are one loss behind the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat for seventh and eighth. They are two losses behind the Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors for fifth and sixth.
With the 1-9 Sacramento Kings, 1-9 Utah Jazz and 1-9 Milwaukee Bucks due up, the Orlando Magic can gain some confidence, stability and calm to stake a spot in the early Eastern Conference race.
But the Magic also know they cannot waste much more time. They must find their footing. And they must find their way.
This is their chance to respond to adversity and prove who they are.
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