Even with continuity, Orlando Magic need time to gel again

This is a familiar scene in every preseason, especially early in the preseason. A moment of clarity that shows the potential and identity the team wants to build immediately followed by a mistake.

On the first possession of the third quarter, as the Orlando Magic aimed to take control of the game with their starters still in against a mostly reserve group of New Orleans Pelicans, Jalen Suggs and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope switched defensive assignments and Caldwell-Pope was able to shoot the gap and get a steal.

Caldwell-Pope tried to get a fast break started, but he miscommunicated where his teammates were going and ended up passing it out of bounds, halting momentum to open the quarter.

That miscue was part of a disappointing 10-0 run for the Pelicans to open the third quarter. An opening run that saw Orlando miss all five of its shots and turn it over three times. That turned a two-point deficit into a 12-point deficit.

Despite all the talk of continuity and a similar feeling lineup, this is still a group that needs time to get on the same page and gel again to recapture the spark from last season. That spark clearly was not lit Monday afternoon at Smoothie King Center in a 106-104 loss in the preseason opener.

"I think we looked like it was our first preseason game," Paolo Banchero said after Monday's game. "I think there was a lot of stuff we can clean up. I think the energy was good, the intention was good. I think we just have some little things that we can clean up which was expected. I think you'll see us get better and better as the preseason goes on."

Some of that is to be expected in the first preseason game. Nobody is expected to be perfect. There will be moments of disorganization in the first preseason game especially. The team is still getting back into the swing of things and figuring out how to play with each other.

And there were signs of positive play throughout the game. It was not a terrible performance by any means.

But this was hardly the look of a team hitting the ground running. This was a team still figuring it all out.

The Orlando Magic eased into their first preseason game

It is just one preseason game. At times it felt like the Orlando Magic treated it as such.

This is a team now that knows the level it needs to play at and can ease off the throttle a bit for preseason action. Orlando was not exactly going through the motions but it was not exactly playing at the breakneck intensity that made the Magic the team they were last year.

This team was pacing itself. It was clear there was another gear they could reach.

Orlando's starters were ultimately outscored by 10-plus points, with Paolo Banchero leading the way with a -12. The Magic left the game in the third quarter with a 10-point deficit after they had cut the lead to two at halftime.

There were positive moments to build upon from that group.

Banchero had 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting and looked comfortable even attacking Zion Williamson to get to his spots and shoot comfortably. He led the team too with an aggressive attack that saw him shoot 4 of 6 from the foul line.

The Magic had 35 free throws, making 27 of them, and posted a 45.5 percent free throw rate. That is as preseason-y of a stat as a stat can get.

So too were the 23 turnovers leading to 26 points.

"We've got to do a better job of taking care of the basketball," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Monday's game. "That starts with our spacing and starts with our communication. Guys knowing where to be on the floor and making the simple play. The defense will always tell you what to do. Making the right read is always very necessary."

That was a defining feature of the game. And while a high number of turnovers is never too surprising in a preseason opener, it disrupted much of the Magic's rhythm and ability to find the chemistry they are trying to build. They could never sustain momentum.

The starters alone accounted for 11 of those 23 turnovers with Jalen Suggs committing five. With all eyes on Suggs for his playmaking as the de facto point guard, the Magic were looking for that table setter. Everyone was feeling out their roles and responsibilities.

The Magic starting group of Jalen Suggs, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter posted a -34.3 net rating, 77.4 offensive rating and 111.4 defensive rating with 10 turnovers (a 28.6 percent turnover rate) and 2-for-11 shooting from three. That included getting outscored 19-11 with three turnovers in their opening stint of the game.

This is an incredibly small sample size and no reason to throw the baby out with the bath water. But there is still a lot of work to do, to say the least.

Orlando Magic will turn up the intensity

The bench, to that point, looked much more energetic and ready to play. They looked like they knew where they wanted to be and how to attack downhill. Anthony Black especially looked in command over the pace of the game on his way to nine points and a team-high four assists.

That kind of ball movement and aggression was lacking at the start of the game. Orlando finished with only 20 assists on 34 makes. More frustratingly, the team was just 9 for 36 from three—and 6 for 25 through three quarters before the deep bench took over for the rest of the game.

There are still a lot of things to get right, even if the Magic found their way into the paint—with a 35-21 free throw advantage, although they were outscored in the paint 42-36–and put pressure on the interior defense.

Even with such a familiar lineup and players who are used to playing together, they all need time to get on the court together. It was also clear the Magic have another gear they can hit, especially on defense.

It should be clear after one game then that there is no rolling over the roster and things just clicking. It takes time to get everyone on the same page.

The Magic still have time to gel

That will likely be the lesson. The Orlando Magic will likely head in to watch the tape and see how they can still work together and build on what they did and did not do in this game.

Nobody should be panicking after one performance. And it was not even an especially bad one—for as sloppy as the team played, they were still mostly in the game.

There is still a lot of time to get things right before the opener. And this is a team that knows how to rev itself up.

"There was some good," Jamahl Mosley said after Monday's game. "Obviously, a lot of areas of improvement. The things that we've talked about throughout training camp which we are going to have to continue to improve on which is taking care of the basketball. I liked our ability in that second half to share the ball and move the ball. We got some good looks. This is one of those games where you look back at the film, study it, where your areas of improvement are, what are the big rocks we need to move and keep hitting home on and continue to understand."

Perhaps they needed to feel some adversity after an intense training camp to regain some of the urgency. Maybe they needed to realize that nothing is guaranteed or promised, even for a team that knows each other so well.

Continuity is a strength for this team no doubt. It will help the team. But it can also be a crutch. A way to skip steps in the process of building a team.

The Magic are not a team to skip steps. But they are still young enough to need some of these lessons.

Their first preseason game was not a failure by any means. But it should remind everyone that nothing is automatic. And there is still a lot of work to do.