The court at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Sunday was quickly picked up off the floor and carted off to some back hallway so that the Cleveland Cavaliers' roommate, the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL, could continue their postseason run.
The Orlando Magic were probably happy to see it go, but they probably wanted to stare at that red-stained wood a little more. They needed to find one win on that floor in this series. They had an 18-point lead late in the second quarter and let it slip through their hands in Game 7.
There is always a piece of regret that comes with losing a Game 7. The team was so close to achieving this major goal and advancing to the second round. That is the part that motivates the team into the offseason.
"Honestly what it told me more than anything is we are not that far away," Moe Wagner said at the team's exit interviews. "I think that is something we have to take away from this. What we're doing in this building translates. It's not just regular season basketball, it translates into the postseason. We were one half away from going to the second round. You never know what happens with matchups, injuries. That's what tells me this playoff experience is special. This is three years in and building. The trajectory is upwards. I'm very grateful to be part of it."
But the season is over. It comes suddenly and without much warning. One moment, the team is going a thousand miles per hour, the next everything comes to a screeching halt and everyone goes their separate ways for the offseason.
The Magic undoubtedly had a successful season. Nobody saw this team reaching these heights or even competing for a Playoff series win. To get to this point was truly incredible and sets the team up for an incredibly bright future.
But every playoff loss also brings with it reflection. The Magic are still going home. They are not lifting the Larry O'Brien Trophy. There is still work to do to get better and improve.
A good chunk of this season with such a young roster was about learning how to win and gaining playoff exposure. It was about giving the team's players a guidemap for how to improve on the biggest stage.
But the Magic also very clearly need something to get over the hump. They have to ask themselves why they lost the series and where they need to improve.
Any evaluation for the future starts with looking back at why the team fell short. And that is the place everyone has to start as the Magic enter a critical offseason.
3 reasons the Orlando Magic lost their Playoff series
3. Shooting Woes
Everything the Orlando Magic need to improve stats with their shooting. There is no getting around that.
Orlando was ranked only 24th in the league shooting 35.2 percent from three and 29th in the league with 31.3 attempts per game.
The Magic knew when they got to the Playoffs that teams would try to force them to shoot. And that is what the Cleveland Cavaliers did.
Orlando made only 30.9 percent of their 33.3 3-point attempts per game. It was not just that the Magic missed those attempts, but they took a lot more than they did in the regular season. Of note, the Magic made just 26.9 percent of their threes at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
On top of all of that, Orlando made only 30.5 percent of the team's 16.9 three-pointers when opponents were six or more feet away according to NBA.com's tracking data.
The team's shooting just betrayed them.
"Obviously reflecting back, you look at shooting," coach Jamahl Mosley said at exit interviews. "There are some aspects that we'll look at. Being able to dissect it a little bit more this offseason will be important. Obviously last night, you are still looking at that and thinking about certain things you could have done differently. Right now, that is one of the aspects that we'll look into. For the most part, it's going to be a long evaluation process in the summer of what we'll need to do to get better."
There is a reason why so much of the Magic's offseason attention is already on finding shooters. It is the biggest need the team can fill.
That was abundantly clear with how difficult the Magic found it to score in the paint. The Cavs did an excellent job walling the paint and challenging shots at the rim.
After scoring 51.8 points in the paint per game during the regular season, the Magic scored only 37.7 in the playoffs (the second-fewest in the league). Orlando made only 12.8 field goals per game on 51.5 percent shooting in the restricted area in the playoffs after making 18.9 field goals per game and 65.5 percent shooting in the regular season.
Orlando lost one of its key ways to attack and score. And a big part of that lies with the inability to space the floor and be a consistent threat from the outside. The lanes to get to the basket and work around rim-protecting bigs like Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen were not there for much of the series.
2. Diversity of offense
The Orlando Magic were not a strong offensive team this season. They ranked 22nd in the league in offensive rating and had the worst offense in the league among teams that reached the postseason.
Of course, the Playoffs are their own animal. Being able to focus on one specific matchup means trying to find a way to attack and just make their way. Both the Orlando Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers struggled offensively against elite defenses.
Both teams were trying to find ways to attack. And both teams kept running into the same wall.
With two elite defenses, the offenses got very stagnant and reliant on their star players. Game 7 was a lesson in stardom with Paolo Banchero scoring 24 of his 38 points in the first half and Donovan Mitchell followed up a 50-point Game 6 with 39 points. The difference in Game 7 was the contributions from Caris LeVert off the bench and the timely shot from Darius Garland.
The Magic just did not have that from Franz Wagner (1 for 15) or Jalen Suggs (2 for 13). Orlando needed just a little bit more.
But the offensive struggles throughout the series revealed another issue with the team. They had only one way to attack and one way to create scoring opportunities. The Cavs learned quickly how they could trap and attack Banchero, leading him to 4.6 turnovers per game in the series.
Orlando lacked offensive diversity and variability.
At home, the Magic were able to spread out and hit shots. On the road, they were not. And so it often felt like Banchero was slamming into a wall entering the paint on the road. And the team could not create -- or did not trust -- any other way to get the shots it typically highlights.
The numbers bear this out.
The Magic averaged 48.5 drives per game during the regular season, scoring 29.0 points per game and shooting 48.9 percent from the floor, according to data from Second Spectrum. In the Playoffs, the Magic averaged 51.3 drives per game, scoring 25.1 points per game and shooting 43.5 percent.
This shows how the Cavaliers did a good job forcing the Magic into the kinds of shots the Magic were uncomfortable with -- the 3-point shooting above and then difficult and forced shots at the rim.
Orlando averaged 51.8 points in the paint per game during the regular season but just 37.7 per game in the Playoffs against Cleveland.
The Magic found some success shooting in the mid-range -- 37.6 percent shooting on 9.5 attempts per game in the mid-range during the regular season and 50.6 percent shooting on 12.1 attempts per game in the Playoffs.
It shows that there can be some better offense. But the Magic are going to have to be more patient and diverse with their attack to get the kind of looks they are comfortable with. And certainly, in the playoffs, Orlando has to show that patience and discipline.
1. Turnovers & Experience
The Orlando Magic were one of the youngest teams in this year's Playoffs. Nobody wanted to use it as an excuse -- Joe Ingles specifically said after Game 5 that he was tired of the young label and excuse that could be used for this team.
But, it was also pretty clear how inexperience and youth played a factor in the Magic's defeat. They did not quite know how to go for the kill, especially on the road.
In a tension-filled Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse with momentum on their side after wins in Games 3 and 4 to tie the series, the Magic never were able to turn the tide fully in their favor. They let the crowd get back into the game then and power the Cavs to a win.
The same happened in Game 7. With a group of fans making their voices heard and up 18, the Magic let the Cavs go on a 12-4 run to end the second quarter and build momentum to their third-quarter run. That again got the Cavs fans into the game and made them a factor.
Orlando was able to respond to these missteps at home. But needing a win on the road, it killed them that they could not extend leads. There was a stretch in the third quarter of Game 1 where both teams failed to score for three minutes after the Magic fought to get within five points.
In Game 7, Orlando and Cleveland went 1.5 minutes without scoring and the Magic holding an eight-point lead. This was an opportunity to extend the lead that the team gave up. And in such a defensive battle, the game literally hung in the balance in these moments.
Orlando clearly needed the points. And extending the lead from eight to even 12 instead of heading to the second quarter up six matters.
The Magic were inefficient offensively and could not put their thumb on something and exploit it endlessly. The Cavs sat and waited for the Magic to cool off and miss shots. That is what finally happened in the third quarter.
That gets to all the problems we have talked about previously in this post. And so many of those problems started with turnovers.
The Magic entered the postseason as the team that turned the ball over the most among teams that reached the Playoffs -- 26th in the league at a 15.0 percent turnover rate. In the Playoffs, Orlando turned it over at a 15.1 percent turnover rate. The Cavs scored 14.9 points off turnovers per game (the Magic gave up 16.4 in the regular season).
That sounds like an improvement. But in a series of such narrow margins, treasuring those possessions was critical. And the Magic were not able to convert the turnovers they forced at the same rate.
In fact, the team that won points off turnovers went 6-1 in the series. That included the Cavs outscoring the Magic 17-8 on points off turnovers in Game 5 and 17-10 in Game 7 as they increased their pace and determination to get down the court quickly.
Orlando gave away a lot of possessions and opportunities to take control in this series. And they have to hope the experience of playing in the Playoffs will help them understand to treasure the ball more.