Orlando Magic carry togetherness culture to Summer League

The Orlando Magic were struggling to stay together in the first half. The Memphis Grizzlies opened a 19-point lead and were raining it from three. The deficit felt insurmountable for a Summer League team still barely a week from coming together.

Playing without Anthony Black, the team was struggling to get organized. They were getting sped up a ton. And the Magic could not find their flow to keep things together. Memphis kept hitting and kept expanding the lead.

This is Summer League. It would have been easy to discount it as a blowout and just let the game play out with players trying to take their turns and try to impress the scouts. That is what Summer League games devolve into.

But that is not Orlando Magic basketball.

A lot of things do not get brought down from the main roster and regular season to Summer League. But one thing has to. One thing has to carry over. The thing that is central to the Maigc's identity and culture.

The players might change. What they are capable of doing on defense might change. The offensive firepower might change. They might make or miss shots. But one thing is always true about wearing the Magic colors:

They are not going to quit They are going to keep grinding and trying to find a way back to the game. They are not going to fracture. To beat a Magic team requires a full-game effort. That is the kind of culture the Magic have carefully cultivated. It is one where everyone is engaged and everyone keeps their cool, even when things are going wrong and they look bleak.

How else do you explain the Orlando Magic have the confidence to erase a 17-point deficit to defeat the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday? How else do you explain the Orlando Magic coming from 19 down to tie the game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday?

Orlando ultimately fell short, falling to Memphis 104-98 and perhaps ending Orlando's hopes of winning the Summer League championship and advancing to the Summer League's four-team playoff. There were plenty of things to clean up that put them in that 19-point hole.

Summer League is about more than just winning

But Summer League is not entirely about results. It is about how players improve and respond to adversity and what they can teach young players ahead of the regular season.

On that front, then, the Magic have seen a lot of things they have to like. Things that feel deeply embedded in the team's culture. This ability to fight and stay in the game and keep fighting will always give them a chance to win.

That is something the Magic know they can carry over from Summer League. It is something they can teach from their main roster.

"Just playing hard and playing together," Jett Howard said after Wednesday's game. "Not getting too down. Teams are making shots and making difficult shots. We stayed composed. We did it last game and we were confident we would get it done this game."

Magic Summer League coach Lionel Chalmers and his staff deserve a lot of credit for bringing that consistent voice and consistent message from the regular season team to the Summer. It has helped the Magic make the most of this time in Las Vegas—they have at least two games remaining with their final "regular" Summer League game coming Thursday against the Brooklyn Nets.

Even with Black out, the Magic got a lot out of their key players. And when they played at their best and most connected, that is when the Magic came back— just as it was in the comeback win Sunday.

Howard led the Magic in scoring with 21 points. He made only 6 of 14 shots, but making three of his six 3-pointers for a 53.6 percent effective field goal percentage. Adding in his 6-for-9 shooting from the foul line, he posted a 58.5 percent true shooting percentage.

Tristan da Silva too came up big, scoring 17 points and grabbing six rebounds. He made four of his six 3-pointers as he continues to look like a solid spot-up shooting option in addition to the sound decisions he tends to make.

Orlando got big scoring games from Jay Huff (18 points) and Jared Rhoden (12 points) including a big basket to end the third quarter that brought the deficit down to one point heading into the final quarter.

When the Magic were at their best with the ball moving around and their defense chasing after the Grizzlies' players, they looked like the real club. Orlando knows that is essential to the team's success at any level.

Of course, it took a while for the Magic to get there. This was the Magic's worst game of Summer League so far (it would be hard to live up to Friday's win, but things have noticeably slipped from the hot-shooting of that afternoon).

"Give them credit, they played really hard," Chalmers said after Wednesday's game. "They had a lot of ball pressure on us. It rattled us a little bit early on. We talked about it. They responded well. We started to move the ball a little bit through the big and then get downhill a little bit easier that way. Give Memphis credit. They did a good job applying pressure.”

This loss should be a learning experience for the Summer League players

The Magic were sped up too much with Black out of the game. They took rushed shots and did not move the ball effectively. Howard was guilty of chasing his own shots and not moving the ball enough at times. That happens in Summer League games.

More frustratingly, the Magic's defense was lax. They were giving up dribble penetration and collapsing the paint, allowing the Grizzlies to fire from three.

Orlando found that groove with its shotmaking and its defense to chip into the lead, finally climbing back into the game and tying it on several occasions in the fourth quarter.

But Scotty Pippen Jr. was able to take over, scoring 13 of his 25 points in the final quarter to power Memphis to a 13-0 run to retake control of the game. The Magic still rallied into a single possession but could not get over the top to gain their first lead of the game in the end.

The Magic still had let go of the rope with their execution even if the will and desperation was there.

"Just not doing the things we were supposed to," da Silva said of the Grizzlies' fourth-quarter run. "The things that kind of helped us get back into the game, we kind of gave up again. That's what led to their run."

That will sting. Winning is not everything in Summer League but it still matters to the players. They are trying to win games.

But as the Magic look to teach their young players what it means to play Magic basketball. This attitude that they will not quit and play to the end of the game no matter the deficit is important. It speaks to what this Magic team is about.

And that will carry over to the regular season. Howard was struggling to find his stroke, but he did not giv eup on the game and helped spark the run that got the Magic back into the game. Da Silva certainly does not ever seem to lose his cool. He made plays down the stretch to give Orlando a shot at the win.

That is a positive sign even in a loss. That is a positive sign from Summer League to the regular season.