At a certain point in the second quarter, the Orlando Magic started trying to foul to prevent another fast break, giving in to frustration as the Toronto Raptors built their lead.
The Magic were looking for some relief anything to relieve the pressure.
At every turn they struggled to find it.
Going against the Raptors, a team known for their ball pressure and their penchant for forcing turnovers, it takes some measure of precision to execute and find offense. The Raptors have the best defense in the league in the early season.
Still, the Raptors' thorough dismantling of the Magic and the frustration that followed the Magic exposed a weakness everyone knew this team had.
With every Franz Wagner foray into the lane that ended with him frustratingly losing the ball or driving into traffic, unable to find an outlet, it was a reminder of what the Magic are missing as they fell behind and lost to the Raptors 129-99.
"That's what they do," Tristan da Silva said after Wednesday's loss. "They try to play that scrappy game. I think we just kind of got ourselves in trouble a little bit, driving into crowds and playing off of one foot. That's something we've got to clean up before Friday."
The Magic struggled to get anything going offensively after building an early nine-point lead. They trailed by seven points at the end of the first quarter, thanks to seven turnovers in the first quarter -- all in the final 7:39.
Wagner, essentially the Magic's only attacking option all night, had seven turnovers at halftime. The Magic had 14, as they fell behind by 16 at halftime.
The Magic finished the game with 20 turnovers, a certain death knell. It gave the Raptors the confidence to blow the game open and left the Magic stuck offensively.
This is a team that is still putting the pieces together with a new offensive and defensive system. That much is true. But Orlando's roster construction, along with the injuries the team is facing, has put this playmaking and creation deficiency under greater scrutiny.
Attackers bottled up
Everyone around the league generally believes the Orlando Magic need to find a point guard.
What a point guard is in this league is fair to ask. Coach Sean Sweeney has said his offensive philosophy is that whoever has the ball is the point guard.
Still, there is something to say about having a stronger organizer and someone who can direct traffic and attack the paint to kick out and start the drive-and-kick game of the modern NBA.
They do not have a true point guard in their rotation, with Jevon Carter mostly reduced to mop-up duty. Losing Jalen Suggs, nominally the team's starting point guard, and Paolo Banchero has further limited the Magic's driving options.
Entering Wednesday's game, Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero, Jalen Suggs and Anthony Black were the only four players to average at least 10 drives per game, according to Second Spectrum. Wagner leads the team with 23.3 drives per game.
With Banchero and Suggs out, the Magic will lean on him to create a whole lot more. There are not a lot of other options.
Desmond Bane has been hovering around the perimeter much more in the early part of the season, averaging only 8.3 drives per game this year (he averaged 15.0 drives per game last year). Jase Richardson is the only other player on the team to average at least 5.0 drives per game entering Wednesday's game.
That does not get to the effectiveness of those drives. But the Magic are not a team with a lot of on-ball attackers. They lean heavily on their top two players to generate their offense.
A strong, pressure defensive team like the Raptors will pounce on that and expose that weakness.
Wagner committed seven turnovers in the first half and shot only 4-for-11 and 4-for-7 inside the restricted area. Anthony Black, the Magic's other main ball-handler, had four turnovers on his own.
Add that to Desmond Bane's icy 3-for-14 shooting, and it is no wonder the Magic lost pace. Their offensive engines were completely choked off.
A position unfilled
The Orlando Magic are left now to figure this out.
Certainly, they entered the season believing they would have Paolo Banchero and Jalen Suggs to help with this weakness. The Magic are playing with one hand tied behind their back due to their injuries.
Orlando cannot use that as an excuse. The team failed to execute on Wednesday. The Orlando Magic's best players gave in to the pressure the Toronto Raptors applied.
"We've had that in the past two," Tristan da Silva said after Wednesday's loss. "I would think that it should be a fairly quick adjustment for us. Nonetheless, it's bodies down and we're trying to play fast. It's a lot on everybody. That's not an excuse. We should still be able to pick up the slack and overcome that. I'm positive that we can."
Still, it is undeniable that this is a flaw in the roster.
In a league that is about dribble penetration, attacking and creation -- and indeed a new offense that is centered on the yo-yo of drive and kicks -- the Magic are suddenly without those key players. It is questionable they had enough of those players to begin with.
When fans say they want a point guard, they are not merely referring to a player who can lead and organize the team. They are looking for a player who can create off the dribble for himself and others. They need more players who can handle ball pressure and break pressure.
The Magic's problems were not limited to Wednesday's game against the Toronto Raptors. They had 20 turnovers in the loss to the Atlanta Hawks. That included Dyson Daniels recording five steals.
Orlando is forced to put the ball into Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner's hands to create because they have no one else. Options become limited quickly.
Failing to address this need is part of why the Magic do not seem to be championship contenders. And why the team can collapse so quickly when the wrong player gets hurt.
Toronto is among the elite defenses in the league already. Orlando will have time to adjust and adapt to their new injury-filled reality. But nobody should have been surprised to see the Magic struggle to initiate their offense against an elite pressure defense.
That need has been left unaddressed for years. And it is something that has held the Magic back.
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