The highlight of the Orlando Magic’s trip to Europe saw Anthony Black rise through four Memphis Grizzlies players to dunk the go-ahead basket with 2.5 minutes to play.
It was a sign of how good this Magic team can be and the poise, composure and talent within this roster. The kind of team that could deliver the intensity that could lift the team deeper into the Playoffs.
The Magic had to work to make sure that it was not a blip.
Unfortunately, through 42 games now, it is clear that games like Sunday’s 126-109 loss to the Grizzlies in London are also Magic basketball.
Black can rise above four defenders one game and then run into the back of an official trying to get out on the break and lead to a turnover in the next. There is no better distillation of what the Magic are like right now.
Orlando trailed by 17 points after the first quarte rand as much as 33 points in the second quarter. They were never in this second game of the team’s European tour. The magic still have a long way to go to find consistency and be the team they believe they can be.
That remains the vexing thing about this team. They show the flashes of how good they can be when all the pieces come together. They also show a lot of times when they are searching for the identity they are supposed to have and finding nothing.
If the Magic want to regain themselves, they have to find their identity. And in the last six weeks, when the Magic have essentially played only .500 basketball, the Magic have not found that one thing they can rely on.
Until they do, things will look uneven.
Blitzed from the start
That one thing the Orlando Magic were supposed to count on was their defense.
It was their defense that led the way back into the game Thursday, especially with a 12-point third quarter that flipped the game to an 11-point Magic lead. The highlight play with Anthony Black only came because they knocked the ball away from Jaren Jackson Jr. to spark the fast break and the open floor for Black to attack.
In many of the Magic’s recent losses, that element of defensive physicality, intensity and fervor were lacking. And from the jump, the Memphis Grizzlies caught the Orlando Magic on their back foot.
The Magic again found themselves in a deep hole, trailing by 17 points at the end of the first quarter. They again let the Grizzlies gain rhythm from deep, giving up six of the Grizzlies’ 13 3-pointers in the first quarter. Orlando was climbing uphill again.
“We didn’t start out the right way,” Jamahl Mosley said after Sunday’s game. “Similar to the last game, the lead got so far ahead we couldn’t crawl our way back into this one. Our sense of urgency to start the game, they hit some shots. They come out strong and fast. They’ve done that since we’ve been playing. We have to understand how we’ve got to come out with that sense of urgency.”
Only this time, there was no snap back to attention on defense to reel the lead back to a manageable deficit. It began to snowball into as much as a 33-point deficit before they reeled it in to 18 at the half.
Orlando never found its defensive groove. And there could be no comeback without that.
Orlando’s 123.5 defensive rating in Sunday’s game was the 13th game with a defensive rating worse than 120 points allowed per 100 possessions. The team had eight all of last season.
The defense, the thing that was supposed to be the team’s identity, has not been reliable. And everything has collapsed around that.
There is no coming back if the Magic’s defense is this inconsistent.
Inconsistency remains the theme
The Orlando Magic did what they always did then on this European trip.
They remained woefully inconsistent, showing the hints of the kind of team they can be in one moment and looking disconnected and unenergetic the next. It is frustrating only because this is not what defined the team on its rise to a Playoff contender.
Since Franz Wagner’s injury on Dec. 7, the Magic are 9-9 with a 112.5 offensive rating and 116.1 defensive rating (the defense specifically ranks 20th in the league since then). It is a testament to the Magic’s talent that they have stolen a few games in the process to maintain their record and hold their ground.
That is clearly not good enough. Not for what this team believes it can do. At some point, the Magic will need to break this streak and string wins together.
Their win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday in Berlin marked the Orlando Magic’s first win streak since Dec. 1. it has been six or seven weeks of this up-and-down play. Nearly a quarter of a season.
At some point, this becomes who you are. The Magic have not found the identity they want and they have not been able to settle on anything aside from their inconsistency.
“I think we’re together in terms of the guys in the locker room,” Paolo Banchero said after Sunday’s game. “I think we all trust each other and have each other’s back. Later in the season, heading into this back half, we need to find a way to string some consistent basketball together and get wins. Hopefully, we can go on a streak here. We’re right in the middle of the standings. That can do a lot for us. I think we all know that.”
Maybe the issue is just health. Franz Wagner’s return and Jalen Suggs’ return could re-establish the team’s identity and turn the season around. It may just take time to get them up and running and the team back in rhythm.
But the Magic are seeking some consistency. They have been seeking it for a month now.
And the only thing the team can seemingly count on is its inconsistency right now.
The Magic must find their identity to have the season they believe they can.