The Orlando Magic's day started with confirmation of all the players who would sit out of the team's second preseason game. Jalen Suggs and Anthony Black remained out, even as they get closer to doing more in practice and making their preseason debuts. Jonathan Isaac remained away from the team for personal reasons.
Desmond Bane got a night off with two games in three days, giving some deference to the veteran.
The Magic were not at full strength. The team is confident with where it is and how it is growing. The preseason games are a step in the process but not the be-all, end-all -- it is just the only thing the public gets to see.
This is mostly the same group, but coach Sean Sweeney has clearly brought some new ideas that need to take time to cement. As good as the Magic looked in Wednesday's game, they knew there was a lot of work to do to get on the same page.
Continuity is a strength. And while the Magic have continuity on the roster, they do not have continuity with their coaching staff. They are still learning each other.
Even coming out of Wednesday's stirring preseason opener against the Memphis Grizzlies, Sweeney acknowledged the team is still working to make things second nature. Processes still take some thought.
That is what the Cleveland Cavaliers have after reaching the Eastern Conference Finals last year. They have a team that is already comfortable with what Kenny Atkinson wants and established star players who know how to get themselves ready.
This is an eager young Magic team. But their 119-105 loss on Sunday showed that there is still a long way to go to make this new system automatic and second nature. There is still a lot to work on.
None of this should be completely surprising.
This is what the preseason is for. Nobody should be ringing any alarms quite yet. There is still a lot of time to get things right.
But the Magic still need to put all the pieces together. And that is still the big task ahead.
The pieces of the puzzle
The Orlando Magic are still clearly missing a lot of pieces to their puzzle. Being without their three top guards is certainly an impediment, especially going against one of the most dynamic backcourts in the league in James Harden and Donovan Mitchell.
The two veteran All-Stars had their way for most of the game with Mitchell scoring 11 points on 3-for-9 shooting and Harden scoring 24 points on 7-for-10 shooting and 3-for-5 shooting from three.
It is a different matchup with Jalen Suggs, Desmond Bane and Anthony Black.
But even in the preseason, that is no excuse. The Magic will surely have games this season where they will be undermanned and without these key players. They will need to be able to cover and adjust.
That part of the puzzle will only come when the team is more organized and more comfortable in its new offense and defense. That is the part that was missing that put the Magic behind and on the back foot.
The Cavaliers attacked, the Magic were struggling to respond.
Orlando struggled to make shots against Cleveland in a way the team did not in the win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday. The Magic finished the first half (Banchero and Wagner did not play in the second half) with a 94.3 offensive rating (and a 113.0 defensive rating). The team shot only 35.6 percent from the field and 6-for-20 from three.
Sweeney said the team's 19 turnovers came from not being disciplined in their spacing and their running principles. That is part of what is still working to become second nature.
The ball was not moving as quickly and confidently as it did in the win on Wednesday, although the Magic still finished the first half with 14 assists on 16 field goals and had 28 assists for the game. There were still some positive signs.
Spacing has been a major buzzword for the team throughout training camp. That spacing was much more congested in this game. Perhaps intentionally, Orlando is overpassing to try to get a feel for their reads.
Orlando's defense continues to show good signs. But the team is still being overly physical and aggressive and committing a lot of fouls -- 15 in the first half alone.
Everything has not quite come together fully yet.
In any case, against tougher competition, the Magic looked a bit more disorganized and unfamiliar. The Magic are still learning the way Sweeney wants to operate. It is inevitable that they will hit some rough patches. And doing so in the preseason is certainly to be expected.
What went well
All is not lost.
A step back is not the end of the world. The Cleveland Cavaliers seemed to take this game -- their second of three preseason games that concludes Tuesday in Orlando -- as their dress rehearsal. The Orlando Magic seemed more content to ease into what they were doing, still playing limited minutes and non-rotation lineups.
The Magic still had some success, defending well in the half court in what was an extremely sloppy game -- the teams combined for 40 turnovers for the game and 16 in the first half. The ball movement was still there, even if it was not overly crisp.
Franz Wagner asserted himself effectively for 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting. He got downhill and put pressure on the defense as the Magic continued to work him as their lead ball-handler.
Tristan da Silva continued his torrid preseason, showing much more confidence and comfort in the spacing of this Magic offense. Da Silva finished with 17 points and made 4 of 11 from three.
Jase Richardson, Wendell Carter and Jamal Cain helped spark a 12-0 run in the third quarter that tied the game for the Magic as their bench outplayed the Cavs' starters. Cleveland put the game away with a 21-4 run. But it was a good showing of resilience and effort from the team.
The trick for the Magic will remain the process of coming together. The team will still need to get all the pieces together and comfortable.
This process with a new coach was never going to be easy or a straight path. They saw how good things can be in Wednesday's preseason opener. Sunday showed them how much work they have left.
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