The Orlando Magic begin their NBA Cup journey on Friday night against the Toronto Raptors.
In the past, that would be a big part of the early schedule. This was something they could galvanize their early season for, banking on their familiarity and their desire to prove themselves on a national stage.
Their rematch with the Toronto Raptors after Wednesday's 30-point loss and the 1-3 start preceding this opening game has the Magic thinking about something other than the NBA Cup. They are just hunting for consistency and intensity to get through this injury-filled start to the season.
They are still searching a bit for themselves.
"It shouldn't. We need to play more intense anyway. That should just add to the fire," Franz Wagner said of the NBA Cup game Friday after shootaround. "It's about improving on our performance from the last game and getting better with our principles and playing a lot harder."
The Magic are not panicking, even after falling to 1-3 for the second straight year. But it is undeniable to feel that there are still pieces missing on this Magic team. The whole puzzle has not come together for this group.
It is not just the injuries to Paolo Banchero and Jalen Suggs that will have them both out for at least the next wo weeks. The Magic are still figuring out a new coach and a new way to play.
The results have been encouraging when it works -- like it did in the second half in the opener against the Atlanta Hawks and the win over the New York Knicks -- and bleak when it has not -- see the poor offensive showings against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Toronto Raptors.
The Magic are still clearly adjusting and growing to their new coach -- and the new reality from all of their injuries. Friday's game will say a lot about how much they have taken to him and how well Sean Sweeney can adapt in his first baseball series of the season.
The Magic are still fighting to pick up speed as the season has begun.
A slow start
Throughout training camp, coach Sean Sweeney said his team was still working to make its processes second nature. He joked the team was at about third nature by the time the preseason ended.
But it was clear that, while the team had some really strong moments, they were still fine-tuning things ahead of the season. It was a process that was going to carry into the start of the season.
Perhaps that process is a little further behind than everyone thought. Perhaps the team still needs to get some of the basics down while the season progresses.
The slow start should have been expected given how difficult the early schedule was. But it should not have been expected to be this slow.
Through four games, Orlando ranks 29th in offensive rating at 104.4 points per 100 possessions per game and 22nd in defensive rating at 115.2 points allowed per 100 possessions per game.
They have two games scoring fewer than 100 points per 100 possessions already, including posting only 99 points and a 98.0 points per 100 possessions in the loss to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday.
Last year during the team's 1-3 start, the Magic still ranked 15th in defensive rating with a 114.4 defensive rating. They were still 22nd with a 108.1 offensive rating.
Nothing much has changed between these slow starts.
The poor offense has led to poor defense. There is a lot to clean up that cannot be merely explained from learning a new system or even the injuries.
"It's a challenge," Franz Wagner said after shootaround Friday. "But I think everybody is going through challenges out there. Everyone has a job to do. And I need to be better at mine."
Many of the issues start with the stars.
Wagner is coming off an especially poor game where he had seven turnovers against five assists and scored only 15 points on 4-for-11 shooting. Despite his 23-point outburst in the win over the New York Knicks, it was his second straight game shooting worse than 40 percent.
Wagner has started the year shooting 42.6 percent overall and 3 for 20 (15.0 percent) from three.
It is not just him, though.
Desmond Bane had a difficult game Wednesday with 13 points on 3-for-12 shooting. Bane has started the year taking many more threes -- on track for a career-high 9.0 per game with a 2-for-8 showing on Wednesday -- but he is making only 27.8 percent to start the season, mirroring the slow start to the season he had last year from deep.
It has been a slow start for a lot of key players that has been made worse by the injuries to other key players. The Magic need to shape up quickly.
In the adjustments
As a group, the Orlando Magic still know where they need to adjust as they look ahead to Wednesday's game.
The 20 turnovers the Toronto Raptors forced in that 30-point win were the fewest they have forced so far this season. But it was part of a slow start for the Magic in that category too. The Magic are 28th in the league with a 17.6 percent turnover rate.
Many of those mistakes could be miscommunication from a new offense and principles. But it still feels like much more than that.
Orlando knows that the reasons the lead got out of hand had a lot to do with them as much as it had to do with Toronto's pressure defense.
The challenge on Friday is to see how the team and the new coach adjust against the same opponent in such a short span.
They know solving many of their problems starts with them.
"I think it's pretty clear what we need to do to come out and win," Anthony Black said after shootaround Friday. "[Coach Sean Sweeney] and his staff do a very good job of being detailed with the game plan and doing a good job of telling us what we can clean up from our previous games. I feel like we are more prepared coming into this game."
The goal is still to make progress.
Wednesday's game was certainly a step back defensively. The offense is reconfiguring itself without a key player. There are a lot of changes.
Sweeney is already being challenged and tested as a coach right off the jump all while still establishing the way he wants to play.
Everyone still seems bought into that process and into making things work. Success will come down to the execution. And that is still a work in progress.
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